Leadership skills for your employees

Some are born a leader, some learn how to be a leader, and some are put in a position of leadership whether it was their choice or not. Whatever the case may, leadership is needed in every organization and at every level, from CEO to regular employee. Like a highly trained army, an organizations goals and objectives need to trickle down from the top and leaders are there to ensure that every last person is on the same page and capable of handling their task. They are also there to spot threats and opportunities and take the appropriate action.

Leadership doesn’t come overnight. Fortunately, leadership is a skill that can be learned and practiced. As intimidating as it may sound for some, every employee is capable of exercising some form of leadership. It could be leadership over a certain process or area of a business, it could be leadership of fellow employees or new hires, or ever leadership of other leaders. All tasks might not always be of great importance or high risk, but a handful of tasks should be carefully selected to give employees a chance at developing their leadership skills. In this article we will explore some of the reasons why employees need to learn leadership skills and what can be done to foster leadership within the company.

Future management

This may be the most obvious reason, but an important one as well. Going back to the army analogy, it has long since been a tradition for star employees to rise the ranks within a company. Starting from the very bottom, some employees have made it to the level of CEO. While this isn’t usually they case, there are definitely some benefits for employees to move up the chain. Management positions that are filled from internal recruiting have higher rates of success and lower rates of turnover. Some of the reasons include:

• Existing employees already have the specific knowledge and skills used in the organization
• They are more aligned with the vision and strategy of the company through experience and loyalty
• They don’t require as much onboarding as new recruits
• Employees already have existing relationships within the organization making it easier for them to interact with others
• They have already experienced leadership skills through other managers within the environment they are working in

Finding that perfect leader within the organization to assume the leadership responsibilities of a manager is less obvious. In many cases, at the bottom of the organization, many positions lack opportunities for people to grow and demonstrate additional skills and talent. With this scenario at play, it is difficult to pick out people who may be capable at becoming a good leader and manager. A lot of businesses will hire other “experienced” people outside the organization to take control.

Another obstacle, is when organizations do not train their employees to become leaders. Perhaps it’s because managers think the employees are not capable, that it is too risky, or even that their own job might be threatened if they are being outshone by others. Despite these sentiments, there are always ways or incorporating leadership without taking too many risks. Even something small will go a long way.

For managers, it actually makes their job much easier when they have leaders under their wings who are capable of decision-making and helping others. Also, delegation is important for any manager no matter what level they are within the hierarchy. This not just for tasks, but for responsibilities. Managers shouldn’t be distracted with the nitty-gritty details when they should be focusing on more strategic and long-term things. Not every employee is going to be ready for leadership tasks, but those that are can be identified and tracked. They just might be the next executive to take the company forward.

Job satisfaction

Leadership is not easy, but it is rewarding when it leads to success. When employees are directly responsible for high performance and success within a business, their leadership should be praised and made an example of. What are the odds that this person would want to leave their job or slack off? Probably nil. Also, when people fail, they shouldn’t be quickly reprimanded especially if they are trying something out for the first time.

But aside from this lofty idea, positions of leadership also gives a feeling of importance. For those who’ve read Dale Carnegie’s monumental book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, people lust after a feeling of importance. It inspires them to action and gives them a desire to exercise their powers.

When an employee is given responsibility over something, even something small, it takes them out of the mindset that they are just another cog in the machine. They are suddenly given power and direct influence over something. They become important and their contributions are noted. The employee who feels worthless is demotivated and is just there to wait until closing time and for their regular paycheck to come in. There is no need for them to align to the company’s vision or goals. As soon as they become important, however, there is a good chance that they will change this attitude. Leadership makes people important.

To enhance this leadership process even further, it is important that they are given a chance at actually leading other employees (people), as well as specific areas or functions within the organization. The effect of this is twofold. First, they get a chance to develop their skills as a leader of others which will give them crucial experience if they start to climb the corporate ladder. Second, it will help flatten the organization making information flow easier rather than just getting siloed at some hierarchical level.

This advantage brings us to the next big reason why developing leaders within the workforce is important.

Learning from within

What separates leaders and regular employees includes one very simple, but highly important aspect within a business. Communication. In the case of employees, communication is very one-way. Employees are only expected to do what they are told. Of course there are reporting requirements that make communication flow the opposite way, but the truth is, they are only expected to do and say what is told to them. The communication is stunted and only as effective as the protocol requires. When it comes to leaders, communication starts to become two-way. Leaders know that information is vital for the success of a company. When something new is learned which might advance the company, leaders are quick to spread the information without fear of losing any competitive edge they might gain by being the only person knows something useful. Another thing that leaders do is find opportunities and threats that a company faces and exposes them to the right people. They talk. They talk a lot. They are vested in the success of the business and they know that they should feel compelled to bring any issues to light.

The regular employee, who may not really care about their job has nothing extra to really report. What benefit is it to them? Maybe their manager will get all the credit while they get jack. This is a very dangerous situation for companies where the main eyes of the business are usually at the front lines. Enhancing leadership from the bottom up will make these many eyes valuable to the business. It will give the executives the ability to learn things that they are not currently capable of knowing from their high position. It also brings the company forward by allowing discoveries of new information or techniques to spread within the company making it respond quickly to threats and opportunities.

What is best for a company? A room full of slaves and taskmasters? Or a room full of leaders?

Crisis management

There are times when an organization faces a huge crises and risks heading south. This is the time in which all normal operating procedures and plans get thrown out the window. The normal flow of business is disrupted and the chain of command is broken. Leadership becomes the one thing that can save the company.

Now, not every company is going to get buried. The companies that prepare their workforce by training them to think and lead on their own have a better chance of overcoming disasters. Imagine if your organization suddenly lost its entire executive team due to some ill-fated event. Or perhaps there is a scandal. Or even a market crash. What would happen? Probably the end of the business as we know it. That is if everyone below was never given the experience of making important decisions for the company or given the opportunity to lead others in a meaningful way.

Now, let’s say that most people within the organization has had some leadership training. This gives them a fighting chance. Leaders are not afraid of taking on higher roles or responsibilities. Leaders are also not afraid to act and take risks in order to save the ship. They are not afraid of sharing ideas and plans within the company that might lead it to safety.

In times of crisis, management is usually too bogged down by plugging in holes. Hidden leaders will spring to action and lead the way.

How can you train new leaders in your organization?

The first step to promoting leadership is planning. This is essential for any meaningful benefits to come from leadership programs. It is necessary to incorporate the company’s vision, mission, goal and objectives with any leadership program. From this, leaders can be crafted in a way that enhances the company. Each potential leader becomes the voice of the company and reinforces its advancement. When many people are in tune with the same ideals, they synergize and help others join the movement.

Next is confidence-building. This is step is needed to empower newbies to the demands of sticking out as a leader. Without confidence, a leader is not really a leader no matter what their position is. Confidence is everything. People are hesitant to follow someone who doesn’t appear to know what they are doing. Again, starting small is best. Tasks that require independence, critical thinking, and decision-making takes employees off the constant reliance of a steady stream of orders and into a realm of confidence-building. From here, they can learn how to succeed and think on their own. Sometimes a good coach is needed to help guide someone to become more confident. Help is not a bad thing.

When they start to master these tasks, giving them the opportunity to teach others starts to put them further on the track to leadership. Teaching gives them direct influence over others in a non-threatening, low pressure way. It is also a good confidence builder. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a learning process to teaching. Feedback is needed for improvements to be made. A manager or coach should take part in the learning process to make sure time isn’t being wasted. The ability to identify what leads to success and failure gives people the ability to make the right adjustments needed to have desirable outcomes.

Once confidence and the ability to teach others is present, an employee can then be given the opportunity to manage. Starting with one person, perhaps an intern or new hire, is a good start. Instead of giving the employee orders to follow, the employee should be give objectives to complete. This lets them decide by themselves how to best utilize their underling and their time and resources. If there is a successful result from this, the employee is ready for additional people to lead. If not, then further coaching is required. There is no rush with this, so feel free to take as much time opportunity provides.

A lot of big organizations have leadership development programs already in place. Small to medium size business shouldn’t feel disabled though. There are many ways to train employees to become leaders. There are also many external resources available as well to train employees and even executives. Whether it is internal or external, leadership training takes a company forward.