Is Your Business Investing in These 4 Leadership Qualities?
Organizations increasingly recognize the value of employee training, with $83 billion spent on training and development in 2019. However, while organizations often take a bottom-up approach to employee development, viewing it as a way to increase retention and engagement, they shouldn’t overlook the importance of training at the leadership level. Read on for further insights, presented to you courtesy of real estate professional Ivan Lilov.
While employee training can solve problems related to technical and soft skills in the workplace, it can’t address systemic issues like low employee morale, poor productivity, and a lack of team cohesion. That’s because, as Harvard Business Review points out, “if the work environment doesn’t support that behavior, a well-trained employee won’t make a difference.” When management tries to solve systemic issues with bottom-up training, it can make them look “out of touch,” author Ron Carucci warns.
Instead, these problems need to be solved at the source — and that means training for managers, not just employees.
What creates strong business leadership?
Before organizations implement leadership training, they need to understand what good leadership means. After all, effective leaders do more than appeal to authority; they inspire teams to work together toward a common goal. Interact notes the result is an improved organizational culture where morale is high, relationships are strong, and everyone is motivated to do their best.
4 qualities of effective business leaders
So how can organizations cultivate strong leaders? While there’s no secret recipe for great business leadership, there are some traits that good leaders have in common:
Problem-solving
Effective leaders don’t waste time on indecision. They identify problems, gather information, and deploy solutions quickly and decisively to minimize impacts on productivity.
Communication
While good leaders know how to make decisions, they also understand the value of team buy-in. By ensuring transparency and maintaining an open dialogue between managers and their employees, leaders create a culture of trust and mutual respect.
Cultural competency
Effective leaders can’t afford to communicate well with some employees but not others. They need to be able to lead everyone, and that requires cultural competency. A culturally competent leader works well with people from all backgrounds so your business benefits from diverse perspectives.
Accountability
Finally, good leaders are accountable. While this trait is harder to train for, it’s important that organizations identify leaders who put the organization’s vision first and take responsibility for their actions.
Why does strong leadership matter?
According to recent studies, moving from an average-quality boss to a high-quality boss increases employee productivity as much as 50%. If that’s not reason enough to invest in leadership training, consider that strong leadership can improve your company’s talent retention, financial performance, and resilience against business challenges.
How to become a better leader in your organization
If you're a C-suite executive or looking to improve leadership across your organization, consider the following:
- Start early. Companies that start leadership training at lower levels outperform those that only target training to high-level employees.
- Keep it relevant. Employees are more likely to absorb training when it’s relevant to situations they’re currently dealing with. Rather than applying training with broad strokes, address an employee’s particular needs.
- Provide support to new executives. New executives have a high failure rate and replacing them is expensive. Training and support help organizations promote and retain the right people in leadership roles.
- Take advantage of educational resources. From corporate leadership training to podcasts to online MBA programs and more, there’s no shortage of tools for cultivating leadership, communication, and management skills in employees.
While these traits are the most valuable for leaders today, the demands of modern business leaders are constantly in flux. Rather than take a one-and-done approach to leadership training, organizations should make leadership development an ongoing effort. While bottom-up employee training is valuable, effective leadership is the cornerstone of your business’s success — so invest in it.
When it’s time to upgrade your home or business property, contact Ivan Lilov.
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