I would like to propose that for anyone to be a good leader, there are certain basic competencies that are needed.

A lot of focus has always been put on the charisma of a leader, the tasks and the roles f a leader. These are important or not important, depending on what theory you subscribe to. However, I would suggest that there are some basics that any leader must have. This is regardless of the leadership type, leadership style and so on.

There are basic competencies that a leader ought to have. I have tried to sort them out and have put them into five basic “competencies”

• technical competence
• operational competence
• financial competence
• people competence
• strategic competence

If you think about it, anyone without any single one of the above, would be a weak leader. In fact, it would be surprising to find them in leadership positions at all. OK, brown-nosing don’t count.

Next week, we will explore Technical Competencies of a Leader and what that means.