Every successful business owner wants his or her business to be number one. Being out in front or being the first to market with a product or a service or being the winner of a race all have the common characteristic of leading or of being in the lead. If you want your business to be a leader in its field, it makes perfect sense to have Leadership Skill Development as one of the top items on your organizational strategic agenda. This is why it is such a critical area of Business Process Consulting.
The reason that highly successful companies value high performing leaders is because they consistently deliver outstanding results, they concentrate their effort on developing value-based cultures, and they develop and bring along the people around them.
Successful leaders are clear about their personal mission, vision and values and they love what they do. This is what makes them champions in their fields of endeavor – they always ensure that their goals are aligned with those of their organization.
Leadership Skill Development is critical because it drives the leadership mindset into every part of the organization. Leadership is one of those abilities and gifts that is evoked or called forth from that part of the organization or from that person who can step up to the plate in a specific and particular way to lead at a given point in time based on their situational maturity or their specific knowledge base.
Sometimes this is a part played by the business owner or manager, from within their span of control, but equally, it can be a staff member or another manager who can “show the way” in a specific circumstance.
When we talk about leading people, it is not something we do to them, but something that we engage “with” and “through” them by way of conversation, discussion, debate, disagreement and resolution. This notion of leadership has the obvious counterpoint of “followership”. This interaction and dynamic is part of an ongoing dialogue within an organization, and it has both its formal and informal elements. This style of leadership delivers innovation and adaptive behavior, and it creates flexible and responsive companies.
Everything that is done in organizational life is undertaken and accomplished by people. Leadership Skill Development, in that sense, is everyone’s business and everybody’s responsibility.
My assumptions, analysis and experience bear witness to the fact that the kind of organizational environment we design and create is fundamental in calling forth and developing leadership. The formal organizational structure must be built in a manner that nurtures and facilitates the development of leadership within its confines. Also, shared leadership must be exercised within the framework of Mission, Vision and Values and Strategy Formulation.
Successful business owners see the investment in Leadership Skill Development as being an imperative because it is building the “bench strength” of their organization both for today and for tomorrow in terms of succession, ongoing profitability and the legacy that they will leave long after they have gone.
Peter McLean is a highly experienced Coach, Senior Manager, Consultant, Business Owner and Company Director. He successfully coaches top Executives in some of Australia’s leading multi-national companies. One such Senior Executive recently won an International Award for Excellence within his particular field. In addition, Peter works extensively in the Public, Private, Commercial and Not-for-Profit sectors, delivering outstanding results for his clients.
