The Skills Required By A UK Company Director

The skills required by a UK company director are many and varied. The individual also needs to have courage, humility, and diplomacy. These qualities will help them make decisions, comply with their regulatory duties, and keep staff and stakeholders onside. We will take a look at some of the essential skills required and why they are so necessary.

Having strong leadership skills is going to be crucial not only for taking the organisation in the right direction, but also for encouraging and motivating staff, creating a workplace that is positive, fair and safe. Being able to lead from the front in the not so good times is a skill that will be absolutely essential if the company is to survive and move forward.

Communication skills are very important to enable clear interaction with everyone. Being able to communicate clearly and in a diplomatic way will see any company director in good stead. Many company directors can be a little undiplomatic and this can cause issues not only with staff, but also with shareholders. Inevitably, there are going to be conflicting opinions, ideas, etc. and being able to handle conflicts in a fair and diplomatic manner is a key skill.

Being able to manage people goes hand in hand with communication skills. It is imperative that the company director is able to manage and lead a team of people, and encourage them to collaborate. Being open to handling diversity in the workplace is going to be of benefit. Treating people as individuals and adapting one’s way of interacting with them will help to keep them onside and happy.

A good company director will have a clear vision of what the company’s goals are. They will be able to think strategically in a way that is not bias to what they want personally, it must be for the benefit of the organisation. Having the vision to see where the company will be in 3, 5 or 10 years time is crucial for making decisions on the roadmap to get there. Plans can of course change, however, keeping the goal in sight and leading the company towards that goal is key to success.

Being able to identify and mitigate risks is vital to the company director’s toolbox. They need to be quick to see what could potentially damage the organisation and have the knowledge and skill to do something about it before it becomes a problem. In business, taking risks is something that is done on a regular basis, however, understanding what the consequences of those risks are and how to manage them is a skill that will help drive the company forward.

A good company director needs to have financial acumen.  Being able to understand the fiscal side of the business is vital in order to make informed and effective decisions that won’t cost the organisation money. Knowing how to read financial statements, analysis and budgets will enable the company director to take the organisation towards it’s goal.

Understanding their obligations for corporate governance and compliance is another very important skill. It is the company director’s legal obligation to comply with the regulations that are in place, so they need to know what these are and what they need to do. This will ensure that they avoid any legal issues with Government bodies.

As you can see, the skillset necessary for success to be a company director are many and varied, but if you follow them you will have taken a good few steps down the avoiding Director Disqualification path, and that must be a very good thing indeed!