Developing the next generation of leaders

One of the most important roles of senior executives is to develop the company’s future leadership. The groups of leaders that can help take the company to the next level.

Even with the current economy, there is a surge of “baby boomers” retiring and it is resulting in a shortage of leaders. This shortage of leadership comes at a time of rapid change. With globalization, the volatile economy, technology changes, and the increased demands of stakeholders, leadership is vital to not only succeed but also, in some cases, just to survive.

Most often it is less expensive to reach within the company’s workforce for this future leadership than it is to hire from the outside. Developing the leadership skills necessary for leading your company into the future needs to be a part of the company culture. In house ongoing training programs to develop these skills for your high potential employees should include; assessments, communication training, leadership skills development programs, mentoring, management training, coaching, and goal setting.

1.        Assessments: Use assessments and profiles to identify behaviors, motivators, competencies, emotional intelligence, and acumen. Once identified via assessments, we can better understand the how, why, will, and potential of your employees. Assessments are great tools for selection, retention, development, and putting people in the correct positions within your company.

2.        Communication training: Open communication helps create trust and allows everyone to know what needs to be done, where the company is going, what part they play in the company’s success, and to eliminate any hidden agendas. DISC assessment training is a powerful communication tool that will open the door to effective communication.

3.        Leadership development skills: Identifying the current skills of each person, their strengths & weaknesses, and creating a multi session program to develop and enhance the needed skills and then aligning with the company’s mission, goals, and direction.

4.        Mentoring: A mentor is more than an advisor. A mentor will get you up to speed faster and more efficiently than you can by yourself or through trial and error. A mentor will help you understand how the company works and provide you with wisdom, knowledge, support, respect, skills, and coaching. Your mentoring program should be between a high performing veteran and high-potential leader.

5.        Coaching: Like mentoring as to offer guidance & advice. A coach will help to keep you on track with a specific goal or desired result. A coach will help you identify personal & professional strengths & areas for improvement. Your coach will challenge the status quo and help you find answers to facilitate growth and to discover possible new ways of doing things. The most effective coaching is performed by an outside professional who is highly trained in the art of coaching and can help the future leader meet specific goals in a specific period while aligning with the company’s vision & values.

6.        Management training: Prepare managers on how to develop skills and style to be more effective in building and directing their subordinates to higher levels of performance within a focused work environment. This important role often goes untrained, yet it is vital to inspire, motivate, and help your team thrive within the company.

7.        Goal setting: Teaching future leaders the art of goal setting and goal achievement is paramount. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T.) goals. By making sure each goal meets these criteria, you provide a clear expectation of progress and performance. Having participants involved in the goal setting process will increase commitment of the expected outcome and help them understand how the goals align with the overall company’s goals.

Having a formalized leadership development program in place can help in the retention of top talent as well as attract top talent to your company. Giving you the edge over your competition.

Traits of the Most Successful Business Leaders - Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer?

As an entrepreneur, you might find yourself wondering about those highly successful companies. Just how do they do it? How do they take their company from bottom feeders to positioning themselves as global leaders in just a few short years?

To answer that, we must look at their leaders. If you study the behaviors of the top performing companies, then you will see they all have one thing in common: others-centric and unpretentious leaders. In fact, if you study the CEO’s and other persons in upper leadership roles of all the top performing companies, you will see they all have the same skill set.

Here are the top 8 things that exceptional leaders do to drive their companies to the top.

1.   They do not impose: They will sit back and allow their employees to work. They have extended trust to their team and will allow them the freedom to work without the boss coming in and taking over.

2.   They let others talk: They are able listeners who allow others to take the credit. They are confident enough in their own abilities to take a back seat and let their employees step up and get the glory.

3.   They admit when they are wrong: In a true sign of humility, good leaders will openly admit to being wrong and let their employee know that they were right. They are not the type that always has to be right and they are open to other perspectives. In fact, they embrace other’s ideas

4.   They give their team all the glory: Humble leaders take the skill of encouragement to a new level and allow their team to bask in the glory and receive all the credit.

5.   They seek out input from others: They squash every bit of pride and not only seek out from others how they are doing but they take their critiques to heart. They have a genuine care for self-reflection and continually want to know how they are doing in their leadership role.

6.   They are straightforward: They aren’t people pleasers and you find them sugar coating things to make themselves look better. They make decisions solely based off their values, not to lift themselves up or make others happy.

7.   They are teachable: Humble leaders value the views of others and welcome new ideas. They ask questions and are genuinely interested in the answers. They thrive on learning from those around them.

8.   They create a safe environment: Successful leaders can cultivate an environment of trust with their team. They create an atmosphere in which their employees feel safe to take risks, to fail, to come to them with concerns, and to feel confident enough to be part of major decisions.

What kind of leader are you?

These types of leaders don’t just wake up one day and find success. One common denominator is that integrity is just a part of who they are, humility comes naturally to them. If you are a self-centered and arrogant leader, you can try to fake your way to humility but eventually those around you will find you out.

In this self-focused society, you can see how embracing humility and a genuine care for others will bring you to the top. In this ever changing and corporate world, sometimes the nice guys finish first.