Few things are more important to an organization than finding the right leadership and creating a solid chain of command. You want a well-oiled machine from top to bottom, but those at the top can help keep things flowing without your direct input. This is a key part of eventually growing into a larger, more profitable organization. After all, you can spend time on growth if you’re constantly putting out fires.
Like most things, cultivating leadership isn’t just going to happen. It’s something you have to actively work on within your organization, or you will miss out on attracting and retaining the right people. So, here are some of the most important things to keep in mind on your search for leaders.
Soft Skills Matter
Having a degree in business, marketing, design, or anything else is all well and good, you definitely want experts in your organization. However, those are trainable skills that can be developed. Soft skills are tougher to train, so you should keep your eyes peeled for those in particular. Listening, negotiating, problem-solving, coaching, honesty, empathy, and more, are all things to watch for in a potential leader.
Change your way of thinking. Instead of always looking for someone to fill the role and then become a leader, look for a leader who can learn the role.
Don’t Force It
Not everyone is a leader. Not everyone wants to be a leader. Never mistake someone who is happy where they are, as someone who lacks ambition. Some people’s goal in life is to climb the professional ladder and some only want to go as high as to give them the life they want outside of work. Neither is wrong.
As a leader yourself, you need to identify those who don’t want leadership positions, most importantly, not punish them for that position. Give them opportunities to flourish in other ways and ensure the leadership roles go to the people best suited for them (the ones who actually want them!). You’ll never get the best work from someone who isn’t happy with what they’re doing.
Check Out Another Blog: Don’t Call Me: Attracting The RIGHT Customers
Let Them Fail… Safely
Leadership means making big decisions. If you don’t give people opportunities to be that decision maker when things are easier, they will struggle when things get hard.
We’re not telling you to throw people into the deep end and hope for the best. What we are telling you is that they need room to fail, but also the room to remedy and learn from those failures. Every decision made by a leader is not going to be the right one, but knowing how to prepare for the worst and bounce back from mistakes is an incredibly important skill to develop.
Take the training wheels off, and let them feel the wind in their hair (and scuff their knees up a bit).
Don’t Be Afraid Of Turnover
We’ve got some news for you: the team you have now will not be the team you have forever.
People come, people go, and turnover is just a part of doing business. Now, don’t mistake this with a complete disregard for turnover. You still want low turnover, but expecting zero is just not a realist goal. So, when it comes to developing leadership, don’t hold back because that one employee you spent time growing jumped ship. Instead, remember the three that didn’t and how much better it made your organization.
For more on this subject you’re not going to want to miss the latest episode of the Thinc. Underground podcast.
Interested in cultivating leadership, building culture in an at-home model, or always wondered about the benefits of an outside perspective? Well this week’s episode welcomes business fixer, executive leadership coach, and founder of Goslin Consulting Group, Rick Goslin. “You need to find people in your organization that you can trust, communicate, and connect with.”
This episode is full of valuable info nuggets, don’t miss it!
