24 Best Leadership Skills Activity Ideas for Teams & Individuals

Looking for effective leadership skills activity? This article offers 24 practical and diverse ideas for both teams and individuals. Enhance your leadership abilities through exercises focusing on communication, decision-making, team-building, and more.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership skills activities are vital for enhancing communication, decision-making, and team dynamics, contributing to both individual and organizational success.
• Engaging in structured team-building and personal development activities fosters collaboration, trust, and self-awareness among team members, improving overall leadership effectiveness.
• Activities focused on conflict resolution, strategic thinking, and values setting are essential for developing strong leaders who can navigate challenges and align their teams with organizational goals.

Understanding Leadership Skills Activities

Leadership activities are leadership exercises designed to develop leadership skills and improve effectiveness. These activities allow individuals and teams to practice and enhance their leadership abilities in controlled settings, creating a culture of collaboration and aligning the team with the organization’s goals. Engaging in these leadership development activities helps build a strong foundation for successful leadership by fostering essential qualities such as communication, decision-making, emotional intelligence, and leadership training activity.

The significance of leadership activities in the workplace extends beyond individual growth. They enhance team dynamics, strengthen core competencies, and promote leadership among employees. These activities help leaders and team members boost productivity both at work and in their personal lives, which contributes to the organization’s overall success.

Effective leadership involves critical skills such as communication, decision-making, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking. Leadership development also requires making informed and intelligent decisions while listening to the team. Targeted leadership activities play a crucial role in effective decision-making and fostering a positive and productive work environment, highlighting essential leadership traits.

Benefits of Leadership Skills Activities

Leadership activities are crucial for enhancing skills like communication, decision-making, and team-building. Improved communication skills from leadership activities enable better connections among team members, leading to enhanced collaboration. This improved communication fosters a more cohesive and efficient team, ultimately driving the organization towards its goals.

Leadership activities also support personal development by equipping individuals with necessary skills, fostering confidence, and enhancing adaptability. These activities help leaders understand their strengths and areas for growth, refining their decision-making and conflict resolution abilities. This self-awareness is vital for effective leadership and contributes to the overall development of potential leaders within the organization.

Additionally, leadership activities help create a positive workplace culture by promoting trust, collaboration, and a shared sense of purpose. They encourage participants to work together towards common goals, building a strong foundation for successful leadership. Ultimately, these activities not only develop individual leadership qualities but also strengthen the entire leadership team, leading to a more effective and resilient organization.

Leadership Skills Activities for Team Building

Effective team-building activities help teams come together and bond, fostering a collaborative environment. These leadership training activities are designed to enhance communication, trust, and collaboration among team members, ultimately leading to a more cohesive and efficient team. These activities enable leaders to develop key leadership skills and promote a positive workplace culture.

In this section, we will explore three specific team-building activities: the Marshmallow Challenge, the Blindfolded Obstacle Course, and the Human Knot. Each of these activities is designed to develop different aspects of leadership and teamwork, providing valuable opportunities for personal and team growth.

Marshmallow Challenge

The Marshmallow Challenge, developed by Tom Wujec, is a popular leadership game that fosters teamwork and creative problem-solving. Participants are given materials such as:

• spaghetti
• tape
• string
• a marshmallow The goal of the activity is to build the tallest free-standing structure that can support a marshmallow at its highest point. This challenge encourages participants to think outside the box, collaborate effectively, and develop strategic planning skills.

The Marshmallow Challenge helps team members improve their communication skills and collaborate towards a common goal. This leadership activity not only promotes creativity and innovation but also helps build trust and camaraderie among team members, making it an excellent choice for team-building leadership activities.

Blindfolded Obstacle Course

The Blindfolded Obstacle Course is a team-building activity that improves communication and trust among team members. In this activity:

• Teams are divided into groups.
• One member of each group is blindfolded.
• The blindfolded member navigates through the course based on team instructions.
• The objective is to guide the blindfolded team member across a designated space using clear commands.

This activity fosters effective communication and trust.

The Blindfolded Obstacle Course:

• Typically lasts between 15 to 30 minutes
• Is suitable for groups of 4 or more participants
• Helps team members enhance their communication skills
• Builds trust among participants
• Improves teamwork

This leadership game serves as an effective tool for fostering leadership skills and promoting teamwork among both group members and team leaders. It provides a dynamic platform for demonstrating situational leadership, encouraging effective group communication, and identifying exemplary leaders within small teams through engaging, interactive activities designed to simulate real-world leadership challenges.

Human Knot

The Human Knot is a classic team-building activity that promotes problem-solving and teamwork. In this activity:

• Participants form a circle.
• Each participant holds hands with two different people.
• The group works together to untangle themselves without letting go of each other’s hands.

The goal is to untangle the “knot” while maintaining physical contact, encouraging participants to communicate effectively and collaborate to divide participants in order to find a solution.

This activity is suitable for 7–20 participants and typically lasts between 15–30 minutes. The Human Knot helps team members develop problem-solving skills, improve teamwork, and strengthen connections.

This leadership activity is an excellent way to foster teamwork and promote a positive workplace culture through the best leadership training activities, enhancing team morale and encouraging team bonding through leadership team building activities and leadership building activities.

Leadership Skills Activities for Communication

Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful leadership. Leadership activities that focus on developing communication skills are essential for building strong relationships, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that team members are aligned with organizational goals. These activities help leaders improve their ability to convey ideas, listen actively, and engage in meaningful dialogue with their teams.

In this section, we will explore three specific communication-focused activities:

• Active Listening
• Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue
• Trust Battery 

Each of these activities is designed to enhance different aspects of communication, providing leaders with valuable tools to improve their leadership effectiveness.

Active Listening

Active listening is a critical skill for leaders as it enhances empathy and understanding. The Active Listening activity involves:

• Participants practicing attentive listening
• Focusing on respect, empathy, and clear communication
• Being conducted with groups of varying sizes
• Helping participants develop their listening skills, which are foundational for effective leadership.

The Active Listening activity helps leaders better understand their team members’ perspectives, build stronger relationships, and foster a supportive work environment. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to enhance communication skills and foster a culture of active listening within the team.

Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue

The ‘Start, Stop, Continue’ feedback activity provides a structured approach for giving and receiving constructive feedback. Participants use post-it notes to provide feedback on what behaviors or actions to start, stop, and continue. This method encourages regular evaluation of actions and enhances collaboration within the team.

Effective feedback is specific, honest, and evidence-backed, promoting openness and trust among team members. The ‘Start, Stop, Continue’ activity helps teams enhance communication skills, foster continuous improvement, and work together more effectively.

Trust Battery

The Trust Battery activity focuses on assessing and rebuilding trust within the team. Participants reflect on trust levels and identify steps to foster greater trust and collaboration. This activity helps teams build a strong foundation of trust, which is essential for effective communication and teamwork.

The Trust Battery activity helps team members understand trust dynamics, develop strategies to rebuild trust, and foster a more cohesive work environment. This leadership activity is an excellent way to promote trust and improve communication within the team.

Leadership Skills Activities for Decision-Making

Decision-making is a critical skill for leaders, and engaging in activities that enhance this skill is essential for effective leadership. Leadership activities that focus on decision-making help participants practice making informed choices, consider diverse perspectives, and develop their problem-solving abilities. These activities create a safe environment for leaders to experiment with different decision-making strategies and learn from their experiences.

In this section, we will explore three specific decision-making activities: Dotmocracy, Impact and Effort Matrix, and Fishbone Analysis. Each of these activities is designed to enhance different aspects of decision-making, providing leaders with valuable tools to improve their leadership effectiveness.

Dotmocracy

Dotmocracy is a group prioritization and decision-making technique that facilitates transparent decision-making. Participants vote on their preferred options using dots, allowing the group to collectively prioritize tasks and make informed decisions. This activity fosters team engagement and ownership, encouraging collective prioritization for decision-making.

Dotmocracy enhances leaders’ ability to involve team members in decision-making, aligning choices with organizational goals and values. This leadership activity is an excellent way to promote collaborative decision-making and strengthen team dynamics.

Impact and Effort Matrix

The Impact and Effort Matrix is a strategic decision-making tool that helps teams assess the trade-off between effort and potential impact. Participants categorize tasks based on their impact and effort, allowing them to prioritize actions that will yield the most significant benefits with the least amount of effort.

This leadership activity encourages strategic thinking and helps teams focus on high-impact tasks, enhancing their overall efficiency and effectiveness. The Impact and Effort Matrix helps leaders make informed decisions and optimize their team’s performance.

Fishbone Analysis

Fishbone Analysis, also known as Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, is an effective tool for identifying the root causes of complex problems. Teams brainstorm to uncover underlying issues, categorizing potential causes into major categories such as:

• Manpower
• Methods
• Materials
• Machinery 

This systematic approach helps teams understand the multifaceted nature of problems and develop well-informed solutions.

Fishbone Analysis improves leaders’ problem-solving skills and their ability to tackle complex challenges. This leadership activity promotes critical thinking and collaboration, enabling teams to identify and resolve issues more effectively.

Leadership Skills Activities for Personal Development

Leadership heavily relies on personal responsibility and personal development. It’s an essential component for effective leaders. Engaging in activities that foster:

• self-awareness
• reflection
• growth helps leaders understand their strengths and areas for improvement. 

These activities contribute to refining decision-making, conflict resolution, and developing leadership skills.

In this section, we will explore three specific personal development activities: Roles in a Meeting, Leadership Pizza, and The GROW Coaching Model. Each of these activities is designed to enhance different aspects of personal development, providing leaders with valuable tools to grow and improve their leadership effectiveness.

Roles in a Meeting

The Roles in a Meeting activity encourages ownership and develops facilitation skills among group participants. Team members are assigned different roles such as:

• Facilitator
• Timekeeper
• Note-taker
• Presenter 

These roles promote active participation and engagement during meetings. This activity is suitable for groups of 4 to 30 participants and typically lasts between 15 to 30 minutes.

The Roles in a Meeting activity helps leaders facilitate effective meetings, enhance team collaboration, and ensure that all voices are heard. This leadership activity is an excellent way to promote leadership and teamwork within a group.

Leadership Pizza

The Leadership Pizza activity is a creative way to identify and develop leadership skills. Participants create a pictorial representation of their leadership qualities, identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement. This activity promotes creativity, communication, and teamwork, while also providing an opportunity to reflect on personal development.

The Leadership Pizza activity helps leaders understand their leadership style and develop strategies to enhance their skills. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to foster self-awareness and personal growth.

The GROW Coaching Model

The GROW Coaching Model is a structured approach to goal setting and personal growth. GROW stands for:

• Goal
• Reality
• Obstacles/Options

This framework helps individuals articulate their goals and develop actionable plans to achieve them. This activity enhances self-reflection, accountability, and goal-setting skills, promoting stronger leadership coaching.

Typically taking 60-120 minutes to complete, the GROW Coaching Model helps individual team members achieve their potential and grow as leaders during a coaching session. The GROW Coaching Model helps leaders set and achieve meaningful goals, fostering both personal and professional growth.

Leadership Skills Activities for Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an essential skill for leaders, as it helps teams navigate disputes and get back on track. Engaging in activities that enhance conflict resolution skills promotes understanding, open dialogue, and proactive problem-solving. These activities help leaders develop the ability to mediate and resolve team conflicts effectively.

In this section, we will explore three specific conflict resolution activities: What, So What, Now What?, Conflict Responses, and Bright Blurry Blind. Each of these activities is designed to enhance different aspects of conflict resolution, providing leaders with valuable tools to manage and resolve conflicts within their teams.

What, So What, Now What?

The ‘What, So What, Now What?’ framework:

• Helps participants reflect on experiences to generate insights and actions.
• Enhances conflict resolution skills, empathy, and communication by encouraging participants to analyze situations, understand their significance, and develop actionable plans.
• Requires 4 or more participants.
• Typically lasts between 30 to 60 minutes.

The ‘What, So What, Now What?’ framework helps leaders reflect on conflicts, understand their impact, and take steps to resolve them. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to enhance conflict resolution skills and foster a culture of open communication and continuous improvement.

Conflict Responses

The Conflict Responses activity aims to explore personal conflict styles and improve team dynamics. Using the Thomas-Killman model of conflict responses, participants reflect on their conflict styles and discuss how they can adapt to manage conflicts more effectively. This activity promotes self-awareness, adaptability, and collaborative problem-solving.

Typically lasting 60–120 minutes, the Conflict Responses activity encourages leaders to be honest and vulnerable, enhancing their ability to manage conflicts and improve team dynamics.

The Conflict Responses activity helps leaders develop conflict resolution skills and foster a collaborative, supportive work environment.

Bright Blurry Blind

The Bright Blurry Blind activity helps identify team strengths, uncertainties, and blind spots in leadership. Participants reflect on issues facing the team, discuss them as a group, and develop strategies to address them. This activity emphasizes reframing conflict as an opportunity to solve problems and typically lasts 60–120 minutes.

The Bright Blurry Blind activity helps leaders identify and address team issues, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to promote conflict resolution and improve team dynamics.

Leadership Skills Activities for Setting Values

Setting and aligning team values with organizational goals is crucial for successful leadership. Engaging in activities that help set and reflect on values fosters a sense of shared purpose and accountability. These activities help leaders connect their actions with their fundamental beliefs, enhancing their leadership authenticity.

In this section, we will explore three specific values-setting activities: Explore Your Values, Your Leadership Coat of Arms, and Team Purpose & Culture. Each of these activities is designed to help participants identify and align their values, providing valuable tools for effective leadership.

Explore Your Values

The Explore Your Values activity:

• Helps participants identify and prioritize their top three values through a series of timed selections.
• Can accommodate 2–40 participants.
• Typically lasts between 60–120 minutes.
• Helps leaders understand their personal values and how they align with their leadership style.

Identifying and reflecting on personal values is essential for effective leadership, as it helps leaders navigate challenges and inspire their teams. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to enhance self-awareness and promote a values-driven approach to leadership while also developing valuable skills.

Your Leadership Coat of Arms

The Leadership Coat of Arms activity is a creative way for participants to reflect on their leadership values and qualities. Participants draw their coat of arms to represent their views on leadership and then present and explain their design to the group. This activity typically takes 25+ minutes, with participants spending 10–15 minutes drawing their coat of arms.

No prior drawing skills are needed for this activity, making it accessible to all participants. The Leadership Coat of Arms activity helps leaders reflect on their values, promote self-awareness, and inspire others with their vision. This leadership game is an excellent way to foster creativity and values-driven leadership.

Team Purpose & Culture

The Team Purpose & Culture activity helps define shared goals and shape team culture. Participants collaborate to create a visual representation of their team’s purpose and culture, enhancing productivity and cohesion. The Team Purpose & Culture activity helps teams align their actions with shared values and build a positive workplace culture.

Defining shared goals and shaping team culture is essential for successful leadership, as it fosters a sense of belonging and accountability among team members. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to promote team cohesion and enhance overall team performance.

Leadership Skills Activities for Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is a critical skill for leaders, as it helps them plan for the future and make informed decisions. Engaging in activities that enhance strategic thinking promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and long-term planning. These activities help leaders develop the ability to think strategically and align their actions with organizational goals.

In this section, we will explore three specific strategic thinking activities: Circles of Influence, Strategic Planning Workshops, and Vision Boards. Each of these activities is designed to enhance different aspects of strategic thinking, providing leaders with valuable tools to improve their leadership effectiveness.

Circles of Influence

The Circles of Influence activity helps participants prioritize their efforts and enhance team ownership. Participants identify areas within their control and influence, focusing their efforts on actions that can make the most significant impact. This activity can accommodate 2–40 participants, including smaller groups, and typically lasts between 30 to 120 minutes.

The Circles of Influence activity helps leaders prioritize tasks, enhance strategic thinking, and promote team ownership. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to improve decision-making and focus on high-impact actions.

Strategic Planning Workshops

Strategic Planning Workshops involve structured discussions around long-term objectives and resource management. Participants collaborate to create comprehensive plans that align with organizational goals and values. These workshops often incorporate tools and frameworks that aid in aligning team members’ understanding of strategic goals.

Strategic Planning Workshops help leaders think strategically, gather participant insights, and create actionable plans. This leadership activity is an excellent way to promote collaboration and enhance long-term planning within the team.

Vision Boards

Vision Boards serve as visual tools that help leaders:

• Set and align their goals and aspirations.
• Connect their core values with specific behaviors and actions, fostering effective strategic thinking and motivation.
• Collaborate in assembling vision boards, which fosters teamwork and shared objectives.

The Vision Boards activity helps leaders visualize goals, align actions with values, and inspire their teams towards a common vision. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to promote strategic thinking and enhance team cohesion.

Inspirational Leadership Skills Activities

Inspirational leadership activities are designed to motivate and inspire leaders through reflection, storytelling, and creative exercises. These activities help leaders connect with their values, gain new perspectives, and inspire their teams to achieve greatness.

In this section, we will explore three specific inspirational leadership activities: Leadership Advice from Your Role Model, Living Core Values, and Campfire Storytelling. Each of these activities is designed to inspire and motivate leaders, providing valuable tools for personal and professional growth, including various leadership concepts, behaviors, and styles.

Leadership Advice from Your Role Model

The Leadership Advice from Your Role Model activity encourages participants to reflect on leadership values and styles by discussing and sharing advice from their admired role models. This activity is suitable for 5–30 participants and typically lasts between 20–45 minutes.

The Leadership Advice from Your Role Model activity helps leaders gain insights from role models, reflect on their styles, and reconcile conflicting points. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to inspire personal growth and develop a deeper understanding of effective leadership.

Living Core Values

The Living Core Values activity connects everyday behaviors with core leadership values. Participants share stories of practicing core values and reflect on inspiration from those stories, promoting a values-driven approach to leadership.

The Living Core Values activity helps leaders lead by example, inspire their teams, and foster a positive workplace culture. This leadership exercise is an excellent way to promote values-driven leadership and personal development.

Campfire Storytelling

Campfire Storytelling fosters trust-building and leadership lessons by sharing personal experiences in a safe space. Participants gather to share stories, reflect on their experiences, and learn from each other’s insights, promoting a culture of open communication and continuous improvement.

Campfire Storytelling helps leaders build stronger connections with team members, inspire trust, and create a supportive environment for growth. This leadership activity is an excellent way to promote storytelling, trust-building, and leadership development.

Summary

Engaging in leadership skills activities is essential for developing effective leadership qualities and fostering a positive workplace culture. These activities enhance communication, decision-making, personal development, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking, providing leaders with valuable tools to improve their leadership effectiveness. Companies like Offsite have recognized the importance of immersive, experience-based leadership programs, offering curated offsite experiences that integrate these principles to strengthen leadership capacity and organizational alignment.

By implementing the activities discussed in this guide, leaders can inspire their teams, promote collaboration, and create a more cohesive and efficient organization. Whether you’re a seasoned leader or an aspiring one, these activities will help you develop the skills and qualities needed for successful leadership.