There are different problems we can solve. But you always have a choice to be on the sharp side, one of which is leadership. For this article, we’ll talk about why and how you can benefit from being a leader.
Leadership requires different critical thinking tactics that can sharpen you holistically. It includes being curious, open-minded, reflecting, listening, assimilating knowledge and experiences, brainstorming, and evaluating insights before making decisions. These are all essential in solving a problem.
If you’re a leader, it’s a guarantee that you can develop these types of higher-order thinking skills. You can actually take it as one of your most significant advantages.
Why would I be talking about the most significant advantage? Well, if you know how to think critically and solve problems in your workplace, you can also do it wherever you are.
Once you’ve trained your mind to think a lot, you can use these critical thinking skills in any facet of life!
Before we dig deeper into what we are talking about, let’s define leadership.
What You Will Learn on This Page
What is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to influence others and make decisions on behalf of a group. A leader must be able to motivate his or her followers, inspire confidence in their skills and goals, and effectively manage a team.
There are many different types of leaders. Some might have these skills naturally, while others learn them through experience.
Regardless of where they come from, there are some things that all good leaders have in common.
- a strong sense of ethics
- an ability to communicate effectively
- an understanding of human psychology
Why is leadership important?
Leadership is essential for two reasons.
In Workplace
It can help you achieve goals and communicate better with coworkers and clients. Organizing people’s workflows can also ensure everyone on your team stays motivated and engaged and even get things done faster.
In personal life
Leadership skills will help you stay in control of your own life and make decisions that are good for you. You’ll also be able to positively influence other people’s actions when necessary. You’ll know how to lead them towards the path that makes sense for you and the people around you.
What do you need to know about HOTS?
Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) are the abilities that allow you to analyze information and synthesize it into new ideas. Since these skills require some degree of creativity, they’re more challenging to quantify than lower-order thinking skills.
Higher order thinking involves.
- Critical thinking is evaluating information from various perspectives and determining its relevance.
- Problem-solving is when you use knowledge and reasoning to find solutions to problems.
- Decision-making is when you make decisions based on personal values and beliefs.
Critical Thinking Tactics that Leaders Utilize
Leaders are not born; they are made. And we believe anyone can become a leader with the right tools and resources.
Unfortunately, most of us were never taught how to think critically as children or adults. So, when faced with a problem or situation at work, our first instinct is to look for a solution or “fix” rather than to use critical thinking tactics to approach the problem from a different angle.
And what do we mean by “require a lot of thought?” Well, see this list of leaders’ critical thinking tactics to solve problems.
Curiosity
Being curious is a key component of critical thinking. If you’re interested, you are always seeking new information and looking for ways to apply that information.
You’re also more likely to notice things that aren’t right or that need improvement, and you’re willing to take action on their observations to improve things.
Here are some reasons why being curious is a must for every leader.
- It helps you keep up with changes in your industry or your organization.
- Being curious will help you form closer relationships with your employees. Who will appreciate seeing their boss learning from them and taking an interest in their daily work.
- Curiosity just makes everything more fun! When we learn new things, it feels like we’re constantly growing as people.
So, does curiosity makes you think a lot?
The answer is yes, curiosity makes you think a lot! When we feel curious, we want to know what will happen next or how something works, and that’s what leaders prefer.
Open-mindedness
Open-mindedness means:
- Being willing to consider new ideas, even if you disagree with them.
- Being willing to take the time to explore different perspectives
- Be willing to change your thinking when presented with new information or evidence that contradicts what you previously believed.
In the workplace, this kind of open-mindedness can help you make better decisions, and it can also help you avoid making bad ones.
You’ll be more likely to learn from others if you’re open to hearing other people’s opinions about how things should be done and why.
And if someone has an idea different from yours but doesn’t seem totally crazy, then maybe there’s some merit in exploring it further before dismissing it outright. Maybe there’s even some merit in trying it out instead!
So how do you establish this kind of open-mindedness?
Well, first off: Don’t be afraid of new ideas!
Learning to be comfortable with change is one of the most important parts of developing any leadership skill set. So you might need to try not to get too hung up on what feels “safe” or familiar because sometimes those things actually hold us back from success.
Reflecting
Yes, reflecting falls under critical thinking skills.
A leader must be able to reflect on the past and use that reflection to improve the future. To do this, you must evaluate your own actions and those of your team members and make adjustments when necessary.
By reflecting on your own actions, you can figure out what worked well and what didn’t work so well. If something goes wrong, you’ll know not to do it again. If something went well, then you might want to try it again!
The ability to reflect is essential for any leader because
- It helps them stay grounded in reality rather than relying too heavily on their assumptions.
- Allows them to check those assumptions against reality before making any significant changes.
- Helps them acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them.
Listening
Listening is not only a critical thinking skill. It’s also the most important leadership skill.
As a leader, you’ll always be dealing with new situations you haven’t encountered before. The most effective way to navigate those situations is by listening to your team, who will have valuable insights on what works and what doesn’t.
Here are some of the benefits of listening as a leader.
- Listening builds trust with your employees and coworkers, which leads to better communication, collaboration, and productivity in your team.
- Listening helps you learn more about your employees’ needs and concerns to better tailor your leadership style and help them thrive.
- Listening enables you to understand what your customers need and want from their experience with your company to ensure they’re getting it!
Assimilation
Assimilation in critical thinking means taking what you know and learning new information that builds on it.
In this way, assimilation is like building a house. You start with the foundation of what you already know and then add on to it as you go.
Assimilation is a critical component of leadership.
For an organization to thrive, leaders should be able to assimilate new ideas and concepts into the existing culture. This is how they build a strong foundation for growth and innovation.
The leader who fails at assimilation will not be able to lead others down unexpected paths; instead, he or she will be stuck in a rut. This makes it impossible for the business to progress.
As a leader, you must assimilate and connect the following.
- Previous knowledge of new ones
- Previous experiences to new ones
This will demand lots of thought!
Brainstorming
Brainstorming requires the leader to consider multiple viewpoints and all possible outcomes rather than just one.
For example, when you’re brainstorming about how to solve a problem, you might come up with a solution and then ask yourself questions like
- What are some other ways I could solve this?
- What would happen if I did this?
- What’s the best way to approach it?
- What do I know about it?
- What do I need to find out?
And then, when you take all those answers and put them together, you start to build a big picture of what needs to happen. That’s how you can start generating ideas for solving problems, and that’s the kind of critical thinking that helps leaders make decisions.
Evaluating insights before making decisions
To make good decisions, you need to think critically. It means that you should always consider the evidence at hand and ask yourself questions like
- Does this information support my decision?
- How will this choice impact the people around me?
The more you train yourself to take a step back and assess your situation with a critical eye, the better your decisions will become.
In addition to evaluating information that might go into your decision-making process, it’s also essential to understand how your biases affect how you interpret that information.
Here are some ways you can evaluate your information.
Look at all sides of an issue.
Don’t just listen to one opinion or take one side of the story at face value. Try looking at all sides before deciding what action to take.
Ask questions.
If something doesn’t seem right or doesn’t seem logical, ask questions until you feel confident in your understanding of what’s going on with the situation at hand. Also, make sure there aren’t any missing pieces of information.
Tips on handling problems
Handling problems as a leader can be tricky. You have to be able to solve problems, but you also need to keep your team’s morale high. Here are some tips for handling issues as a leader.
- Be aware of your emotions.
- Don’t assume that everyone feels the same way about a problem.
- Always acknowledge the problem.
- Determine the cause of the problem before you start to fix it.
- Be specific about what needs to happen next.
- Make sure everyone knows what happened so that they can help you figure out what to do next.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- Don’t take things personally.
Can you be a leader?
If you think about whether you got what it takes to be a leader, here are some common traits that most leaders have.
You’re not afraid of change.
In fact, they embrace it. They know that the world is constantly changing and that businesses must adapt to stay competitive. If you’re afraid of taking risks and challenging yourself, you probably don’t have what it takes.
You seek out challenges.
Being challenged isn’t scary for leaders; it’s exciting! Leaders love challenges because they know that overcoming them will make them stronger and wiser than before. If you fear trying something new, or if challenges make you feel uncomfortable, then maybe being a leader isn’t right for you.
You aren’t intimidated by other people’s opinions, even negative ones.
Many people get frustrated when they hear others disagree with them. But leaders know that different perspectives are valuable, even if they disagree with them! Leaders are confident enough in their own ideas that they’re not afraid to hear someone else’s opinion about why theirs might not be the best idea.
But like I said earlier, anyone can become a leader! All you need is the right resources and mindset!
Don’t be scared and challenge yourself!
The more challenging a problem is, the more you have to think about it. And the more you think about a problem, the more likely you will learn something new.
In short:
When we’re working on problems that require a lot of thought, we’re actively making new connections in our brains. And those connections help us see things in new ways, leading to innovation and creativity.
If you want to maximize your learning potential while solving problems at work, try focusing on ones that require some creativity and mental effort!