As your company grows, you need to grow your people, too. If you have been investing in developing your subject matter experts or people with a special skill set within the company, they will be ready to step into new, expanded responsibilities of a manager. There are many good reasons to promote from within rather than go hunting from the outside. The transition is usually smoother because the internal experts already know the product, people, procedures and performance expectations. They have tacit knowledge about how things are done, how the organization is structured and how people are expected to behave.
Every time you hire a new person, it is a strategic decision. You should hire them with your eye for the long-term; what future positions can they grow into as your company grows? Groom the future leaders now. This grooming means that you must invest in mentoring, coaching and training them. Without a continuous development plan for your employees, you cannot expect your employees to become superhero supervisors over night. If you do, you set them up for failure. And that will cost you time, money and relationships.
In order to successfully bring up new leaders from the ranks do this:
Find adaptable employees
Leadership is a demanding, dynamic task and leaders need a wide repertoire of behaviors for a variety of situations. Most importantly, in the rapidly changing world we need agile leaders. Agility is about an ability to learn quickly and an ability to let go of personal attachments to doing things in predetermined ways. Hire potential rather than specific knowledge. Be on the lookout for the willingness to learn, change and be adaptable. These qualities are more important than knowing a bunch of data. When your employees are skilled in knowing how to find information, they can get on top of current facts faster.
Be the example
It’s imperative that you, as the Boss, understand that everything you do or say becomes magnified in the eyes of the employees. Know your impact of others and be mindful about your words and actions. Be aware of how you treat others, how you interact with employees, vendors and clients. Your personal choices and leadership style set the tone how others will conduct themselves. You either give them permission to be fools or build trust by consistently being the model of integrity.
Continually train
Intentionally invest in your employees by supporting them to grow into ever increasing responsibilities. Expanding the human capacity in your company can be accomplished in many ways; for example, arrange mentoring and coaching, bring in expert speakers, organize webinars, in-house seminars, or even off-site retreats for specific training purposes. Follow up these development interventions and measure their impact. Regular reviews of the strengths and challenge areas of the individuals and teams can help you to assess your organization’s capacity to perform – and where the gaps are. Choose a couple of assessments, which can be deployed at regular intervals. Over time, using these consistently will give you the metrics how capabilities in your company turn into productivity.
Article Author: Kristiina Hiukka is a Seattle-based professional leadership consultant, coach and trainer. She works with CEO’s who are ready to invest in women leaders in their companies. She specializes in up and coming CFO’s, CEO’s, and Management Teams. She believes in creating positivity driven performance cultures. She grooms leaders and facilitates teams at small companies as well as global organizations such as Microsoft, Nokia, and the American Red Cross. She founded Women in Innovation, a community and summit that convenes women leaders with Big Ideas. A native of Finland, Kristiina serves as Honorary Vice Consul of Finland for the State of Washington. Kristiina speaks on a variety of leadership topics connected to her passions: Leadership, Innovation, Collaboration, Communication, and Gender Intelligence kristiinahiukka.com. To get tips on Leading Smart and becoming the most effective leader in life and business Click Here
Article Resources:
Be Smart About Your Leadership Intelligence – Kristiina Hiukka
Photo Source: courtesy of zole4 / Free Digital Photos