As a leader, you should look inward and focus on your own abilities and shortcomings, and ask yourself how you can find ways to empower and inspire your team. Here are some ways to turn the conversation inward and focus on developing leadership skills:

Be passionate: When you display authentic enthusiasm and passion for the end result, your people will keep moving toward their goals. Employees respond to those who are eager to help them learn and grow. Show passion for everything you do, including in your pursuit in learning how to develop leadership skills. Your desire will be clear to your employees, and inspire them to improve leadership skills, too.

Be a role model: People respect someone who walks the walk. Show those around you exactly what you'd like to see them do. The strongest message you can send to your team is to model the behaviors you'd like to see.

Recognise your strength: No leader is born with all necessary skills to succeed. It takes time and effort to improve leadership skills, and it begins with a thorough examination of your strengths and weaknesses. A strong knowledge of your innate gifts and abilities means you can put them to work for you, while an understanding of your weaknesses provides you with areas you know you can improve.

Set goals and execute them: Even the most formidable leaders don't come up with success out of nowhere. The grandest vision will never get off the ground if you don't plot a path to get there. Invest time in clarifying your goals and solidifying them. Formulating the right plan and setting meaningful benchmarks along the way gives you a map to follow, a methodology that will guide your business through the next week, month, year and decade. Once you achieve a goal, look towards another; constant striving to meet that next benchmark will give you and your employees a sense of meaning and pride.

Admit your failure: Even the most powerful, inspiring leaders make mistakes. When you recognise an error, admit it openly and take action to correct it. Be open about your failures; discuss them and learn from them. Learning from your failures sends a powerful message to those around you. They understand that you will lead well even when you make a mistake. Those wondering how to improve leadership skills should learn how to recognize successes and failures.

Motivate others: If you're complaining about every little detail and can only see the worst-case scenario at the end of every plan, you have little chance of inspiring others. An employee who feels you do not believe in them will not perform well, and can even create a domino effect of poor morale across the business. Instead, believe in others and what they are capable of. Inspire and motivate them to work harder and reach greater heights. Improve leadership skills throughout your business by generating and focusing positive energy, even when things aren't going according to plan.

Find your purpose: When developing leadership skills, it's essential that you know why you're putting time and effort into your chosen goal. What drives you? Your immediate response may be simple: A larger paycheck from a job well done or the prestige that comes from higher rank. But step back for a moment. Why do you want that larger paycheck? Is it so your family feels more secure? Perhaps you want to lead because you feel you can help others by developing products and services that they need, or you see a place where you can cause positive change in your industry. These are all higher purposes, and by identifying your own, you can better operate as a confident and knowledgeable leader.

As you sharpen effectiveness as a leader  — whether that's in a professional or personal capacity — you'll strengthen the efforts you put into your own goals.

The writer is Pallavi Prakash, Founder-CEO of Knowledge Seed Learning Center & a Motivational Speaker