Top Skills For An Executive Director Leadership Development At San Francisco
Linda, Executive Director of a Leadership Development Program, highlights the evolution of crucial skills throughout her career, emphasizing that "emotional intelligence skills" — such as "being able to read the audience and relate to them where they are"—surpassed the importance of earlier technical skills. This focus on connecting with others and fostering a shared vision is now paramount in her role, making "relating to people" the number one skill.
Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Development, People Management, Strategic Vision, Communication Skills
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Linda Yeung
Executive Director, Leadership Development Program
City and County of San Francisco
University of California, Berkeley
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Masters of Law and Diplomacy
Spanish & Other Languages, Political Science, American Studies
Government & Public Sector
Human Resources (HR)
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Immigrant, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Emotional intelligence is crucial for understanding and relating to diverse individuals and their needs.
2. Strong analytical skills are important for individual contributors, progressing to project management and program management.
3. The ability to build relationships, lead teams, and guide people toward shared goals and self-awareness is essential for leadership development roles.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like this?
As Executive Director of the Leadership Development program, I love that it relates to people. That is the number one skill that is important in my job.
When you are advancing in your career, you usually start as an individual contributor, so analytical skills were important. Then you might become a project manager or a program manager.
It’s really about being responsible for others and the group’s outcome, and leading people. However, at some point, those technical skills become less important than emotional intelligence skills.
This means being able to read your audience, understand who they are and what their needs might be, and then relating to them where they are. In leadership development, you have to meet people where they are.
There might be a first-level manager who is in their first job managing people, or a deputy director of a large department responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of people. So, what is it that I and my skillset can bring to them so they become more self-aware?
This includes becoming more self-aware of the other party, and managing those relationships so that it has the best outcome for all parties involved. For me, the best thing is emotional intelligence.
I understand the hard skills, the IQ stuff, and I was good at that. But now in my career, it's the EQ, relating to others, and showing a common vision and strategy so that we can all move forward together.
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