To be a good leader, you need to have the right skill sets on top of being an influential person who can lead your team. Games and leadership go hand-in-hand. The impact of gaming helps players, providing stress relief and improved cognitive skills, among other things. When balancing work, gaming, socializing and a healthy lifestyle, leaders are more well-rounded individuals.

Here are a few leadership skill sets that can be improved when playing games.

Teamwork

Multiplayer games are the perfect option for leaders to play with their teammates. The team can easily connect their devices and have constructive conversations as they work through the games together. With many games, leaders can delegate tasks to the team to better reach their goals. Gaming is also a great way to improve problem-solving skills that the team can bring into the workplace. These games can also help build empathy and foster conflict resolution skills that may come up when working together. 

Decision-Making Skills

Leaders need to be easily adaptable and able to handle stress constructively. Both of these abilities can assist them in making better decisions. Games can help build this skill, teaching you to make quick and effective decisions. Good decision-making skills are necessary when under pressure and effortlessly pulling through difficult situations. The need to make time-sensitive decisions often comes up in the workplace and games teach you how to think on your feet. 

Leaders must be empathetic when making decisions, as those decisions can impact the team. A good way to learn empathy is through failure — knowing how it feels to get something wrong will help deal with staff members who may have made errors in judgment. Since games provide repeated exposure to loss and failure on a manageable scale, they can be a useful training ground for teaching resilience. Also, failure and making mistakes are good ways to learn lessons — hopefully won't repeat the same mistakes. 

Communication Skills

To be a good leader, what you communicate and how you share that message with your team is very important. Leaders need to inspire by using their words and actions correctly to be taken seriously. Leadership training games are necessary as they help you build on these skills to work well with your team. Good communication skills allow you to empathize and help resolve any conflict your team may be experiencing. Teammates will then learn to trust you and feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas. 

Strategic Thinking Skills

Strategic thinking skills are required in leadership to help the team plan and reach goals. Good strategic thinking skills improve the ability to assess risks and manage teams and projects. Team-building games are also great as you can practice delegating tasks based on the team's skill set. Puzzle games help improve memory and cognitive thinking. Classic games like sudoku, crosswords and trivia games are all available online for teammates to play together. 

Online card games are also known to improve cognitive functioning. Poker and blackjack are two examples of card games you can play online to help develop your strategic thinking skills. 

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