What role can YOU as a business professional play in creating leaders within your organization?

"The job of leaders is not to create followers; it is to create more leaders." 

I subscribe to you that this is not outside the scope of most business professionals. You, as the patriarch/matriarch of your company, present an interesting opportunity to provide extra value in the growth of your employees. 

If your goal is to improve the lot of your organization, this logically extends to creating in staff, the ability to develop leadership skills. In most organizations, leaders come in all flavors, not just the one at the top of the organizational chart. So, how does a confident (non-threatened) business professional provide those skills and experiences that foster leadership?

I would like to offer only three ways to do this via this correspondence:

1.    The first is by setting an example of a person who diagnoses, explores, challenges, and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the organization. This is usually what you are asked to do in an organization, but you develop leaders by sharing your process and including staff in your deliberations. 

2.    Second, what if you formally "assign" one or more staff to shadow you on an engagement or process? This allows you to delegate some responsibility for project outcomes.

3.    Third, offer to train staff not participating in the project in some basic skills in organizational assessment, diagnostics, selected aspects of your technical disciplines and your philosophy about organizational change. Who says that class is no longer is session just because they have graduated from high school or college?

Beyond just delivering a better path forward, much of your value comes from sustained implementation of that improvement. This is best carried on by staff after you have concluded the training. Make development of technical and leadership skills a part of your engagement, and the time you spend working with staff as a value add event. Broadening your contribution to trainer as well as mentor, may be in the best interests of everyone.

As always, please accept my wishes for a tremendous week.  And if I or any of my staff can assist you or your organization, please call or write and we will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC