Lousy employee leadership got you
down? Hey, Dr. Entrepreneur, here’s how to build the perfect supervisor.
You've probably heard the
old joke about leadership being the ability to figure out which way people are
going, then running to get in front of them. You might laugh, but in today's
world, business owners can't afford to ignore poor leadership in their supervisors,
managers and executives. A recent survey of top U.S. companies revealed that
businesses have a difficult time finding qualified leaders and that employees
fear their companies face an uncertain future due to lack of leadership. And,
of the leaders surveyed, 70 percent said that they pursued development activities
to make themselves more marketable for other jobs, and not necessarily at their
current companies.
The study, conducted by Development
Dimensions International Inc. (DDI) in Pittsburgh, focused on large corporations,
but Barrie Athol, DDI's vice president, says the results are equally, if not
more, applicable to entrepreneurial businesses. "The strength of a leader
has much more impact on the success of a small organization than a large organization,"
Athol says. "For example, in a small company, if you have an open executive
slot or one of the executives is not performing well, that could mean a third
of your executive leadership is [floundering]. If you have one executive who
is not performing well in a large corporation, there are [plenty of] others
to cover for him."
It's more than just numbers. "Smaller
organizations are flatter, so individual leaders don't have a staff to take
care of certain things for them," Athol notes. "The quality of each
individual leader tends to be more critical in a smaller organization."
So what can you do? First, says Athol,
recognize that selecting and developing leaders is extremely important to your
company's success—and one of your chief entreprenerial responsibilities.
"Take the approach that your primary role is to develop leadership within
the organization," Athol advises.
Next, understand why people leave
jobs so you can improve your retention ratio. "The research shows the top
issues aren't compensation and benefits or reward and recognition," Athol
says. "The main reason people leave one company to go work for another
is they don't like their boss. People tend to quit bosses, not companies."
People also need to feel that their
work is meaningful and their contribution is valued, and that they have an opportunity
to grow and develop in what they're doing. "These are areas where often-times
smaller organizations are at a real advantage over larger ones," says Athol.
If you can't afford to send people to expensive outside training programs, look
for ways to make the work itself a development program. Athol advises giving
people more responsibility earlier so they learn by doing. He also recommends
a system of job rotation so everyone can learn about the various aspects of
the operation.
Before implementing any program,
talk with your people to find out what they want and need. Then think of leadership
development as a joint venture, with leaders taking responsibility for their
own development and organizations empowering them to do so.
By Jacquelyn Lynn
"Management & Leadership - Lead Your Team Down the Right
Path"
Management
& Leadership Training Quote
Keep away from
people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but
the really great ones make you feel that you too, can become great.
--Mark Twain
Suggested Reading:
From
Management to Leadership: Interpersonal Skills for Success in Health Care
by Jo Manion
Leadership
Handbook of Management and Administration
by James D. Berkley
The
Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management
by Robert D. Herman, & Associates
101
Leadership Actions for Performance Management
by Ollie Malone
Leadership
and Management of Volunteer Programs : A Guide for Volunteer Administrators
(Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Sector Series)
by James C. Fisher, Kathleen M. Cole
Sales
Management: Teamwork, Leadership, and Technology
by Charles M. Futrell
The
Leadership Equation: Leadership, Management, and the Myers-Briggs
by Lee Barr, Norma Barr
Moses
on Management : 50 Leadership Lessons from the Greatest Manager of All Time
by David Baron, Lynette Padwa
Understanding
Nonprofit Organizations: Governance, Leadership, and Management
by J. Steven Ott
eXtreme
Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value
in the Face of Volatility
by Douglas DeCarlo, James P. Lewis
Mind-Set
Management: The Heart of Leadership
by Samuel A. Culbert
The
Making of Educational Leaders (Management and Leadership)
by Peter Gronn
