The term “leader” has evolved to embrace more realms than only a political leader with market globalization. The word Leader has been transformed from a noun into an adjective in the business world. A leader is a person who portrays leadership traits in his personality. They are the formidable managers who stir, direct and drive the strength of the workforce towards the organizational goal. They are the influencers and the problem solvers; problems do not threaten them; instead, their dopamine levels are boosted due to the resolution.
Definition of Leadership
The corporate world defines leadership as a company’s management ability to set and achieve ambitious goals, make quick decisions when necessary, exceed the competition, and motivate others to perform at their best.
Leadership development received around 25% of total training investment during a pandemic, down from 30% in 2017. Post-pandemic, firms spending 11-20 percent and 21-30 percent on leadership development has increased.
Why Should an Organization Develop Leaders?
The business experts underscore that identifying and developing leaders in the organization is the best strategy to prepare for the future.
Both the research and practical approach confirms that leadership encompasses the ability of an individual, group, or organization to “lead,” influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. An adept leader is someone who can motivate their employees. They work unitedly to ensure that deadlines and objectives are met and preserve a positive reputation in the workplace. Such leaders prepare individuals for work, support them in understanding their responsibilities, and ensure that everyone has a job that best suits their capability.
Endorsing a strategic program for developing employees into leaders could be considered one of the most important moves of the employer to checkmate its competitor and positively influence the culture of their company. It lowers attrition and prevents critical employees from leaving the company. According to a Deloitte survey(1), the primary reason for millennials leaving their jobs within two years is dissatisfaction with how their leadership abilities were developed. The younger generation believes they are underutilized and not sketched as leaders.
Types of leaders
Leadership style refers to the overall pattern of a leader’s subordinates’ behaviors. In practice, it symbolizes the leaders’ ideology, talents, and attitudes. Great leaders have evolved throughout history with distinct leadership styles for providing guidance, implementing strategies, and encouraging people.
These can be roughly classified as follows:
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Authoritarian Management:
Authoritarian leadership styles enable leaders to set goals and expectations. When a leader is the most knowledgeable team member, a one-person show can succeed.
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Participative leadership:
Democratic ideology defines participatory leadership styles. The objective is to have team members participate in decision-making.
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Leadership Through Delegation:
The delegative leadership style emphasizes team members are taking the initiative. This can be an effective technique if team members are skilled, take responsibility, and want to work alone.
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Transactional and transformational Leadership:
The leader establishes clear objectives, and team members understand how they will be rewarded for their cooperation.
In transformational leadership, the leader instills a vision in their followers and then encourages and enables them to realize it.
Here are 3 Ways to Develop Leaders for Future Success.
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Professional growth objectives make them profound and focused
Professional development goals are essential because they help employees map out the trajectory of their careers. Encouraging employees to think about where they want to be in five years and make concrete goals to get there helps them focus on their individual goals and achieve tremendous, measurable success.
This program assists employees in remaining competent in their field and succeeding in it. Professional development that is actively pursued guarantees that knowledge and skills stay relevant and updated. It also enables employees to be more informed of dynamic market trends and directions. A well-defined professional growth plan serves as a roadmap for achieving goals.
This can lead to a higher level of engagement which, in turn, can lead to higher employee retention.
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Continuous Training Program induce Confidence
Training programs have numerous advantages. Employee performance is improved, productivity increases, employee turnover is reduced, and corporate culture is improved. Employers investing in their employees’ continuing education programs regularly develop a bond with them, and the employees, in turn, do their best to put their newfound knowledge to work for the company’s advantage.
Employees can refine their knowledge and abilities while also clearly showing their strengths and shortcomings with a continuing education program. It lowers weak points from an organizational standpoint and saves time and money by preventing repeat mistakes.
Some companies offer stipends or incentives to employees seeking higher education degrees. However, this isn’t the only option to invest in your employees’ continued education and development. Organizations’ average training spending grew from $17 million in 2017 to $19.7 million in 2018.
Attending a professional organization’s local, regional, national, or international conference or workshop is another excellent approach to invest in company employees’ development. Connecting them to a network provides an opportunity for them to receive more support, advice, and information on how to advance professionally and personally. It also provides the company with another brand representative.
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Delegation of responsibility
Self-motivated employees despise being detached from critical tasks and core responsibilities. They have an innate desire to use their knowledge and abilities and be recognized as problem solvers.
Delegating responsibilities gives the team more control, fosters trust, and helps with professional development. Employees with leadership qualities learn to recognize who is best prepared to take on specific jobs or projects.
Delegation increases efficiency. It allows one to save time slots and prioritize tasks based on their difficulty level. Delegation helps in the development of employee skills. It promotes open dialogue, collaboration, and trust.
Being asked to do more work or assignment challenging task can be pretty motivating for some employees since it shows that the company trust them and care enough to help them advance their careers.
How to identify future leaders
While there are particular characteristics of leaders such as talking initiative, proactiveness, hard work, interpersonal skills, here are a few more for consideration
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Future leaders have a natural tendency towards attracting followers
Look for the employee everyone enjoys being around to identify a future leader on your team as good leadership has magnetism. Subordinates will be more likely to respect this person’s leadership if they already respect them.
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Future leaders are good problem solvers
Leaders that solve problems effectively. Identify a future leader in the company, see if they have a knack for solving problems and being proactive in finding answers.
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Future leaders are simple to identify in meetings
Potential leaders are the ones who ask the appropriate questions, lean in to learn more, and even challenge the status quo. They are good contributors and add valid points to a discussion.
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Future leaders will be able to deal with pressure
The catalyst that transforms a piece of coal into a diamond is pressure. Assign them a task or an assignment that pushes them out of their comfort zone. Employers could see how they deal with the pressure of being in a leadership position.
Final Thought
Intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, boldness, and discipline are essential qualities in a leader. Reliance on intelligence alone leads to disobedience. Humaneness is a stand-alone trait that is a sign of weakness. Fixing one’s mind on faith is a fool’s errand. Violence results from a reliance on courage’s strength. Cruelty is the effect of excessive discipline and sternness in command. A person can be a leader if they possess all five virtues, each suited for its purpose.
A company may have about 5-10% of employees within their organization who can become leaders. The employer must step forward and help this handful of employees evolve to become the leaders for future success.
