5 essential leadership skills you need to be the next Apprentice and for the Rest of Us.

5 essential leadership skills you need to be the next Apprentice and for the Rest of Us.

By now, everyone in the civilized world knows that Bill Rancic outplayed 15 young executives on NBC's wildly popular reality show “The Apprentice” to win a lucrative position in Donald Trump's organization. Rancic's win proved a truth that many experienced leaders already know: surround yourself with the right team of employees in order to get the job done.

Rancic demonstrated the essential strong leadership and communication skills that can help every apprentice—and manager—succeed. AMA has put together the following checklist of essential skills and abilities that will help employees meet any business challenge, on TV, or otherwise.

1. Planning. This is the keystone to success—individually and organizationally. It is a skill that enables managers to complete their own tasks more effectively and, on a broader scale, helps the team to achieve its strategic objectives.

2. Adaptability/Flexibility. If there is a common need in today's businesses, it is the ability to adapt to the ever-increasing pace of change. Whether it's a new competitor, rapid technology advances or simply a rainy day, everyone within a team must be willing to switch directions and prioritize quickly for the good of the organization. This means that they must ensure that not only the changes senior management demands are made, but also that ideas from peers and workers are implemented if they will improve operations. After all, there usually is no single right or best way.

3. Communication Skills. A recent AMA survey confirmed that communications skills are, by far, the key competency required for successful leadership. Whether it is giving instructions to your team, updating a colleague about the state of a project, or expressing a point of view to one's own leader, communication is critical. Too many executives and managers take communication skills for granted. They think they are something that automatically develops as one matures. Not so. They are skills that need to be learned and perfected over time. How one expresses an opinion, advocates for a particular strategy or simply reports on the facts may have more to do with the eventual outcome of a discussion—and your personal success—than the actual substance of the conversation.