What's Next in Your Leadership Development Journey?

Becoming a leader with the time to grow your business without the worry and stress that things are running smoothly is a great goal. Achieving this would mean that three things are in place:

The right person is in the right job
People have been trained and coached to perform the job and produce clearly defined outcomes
People solve their own problems and work as a team on improvement projects.

This is why I created Manage2Lead. It is a system that results in having more time for oneself and the freedom and space to work on innovative and creative projects. The objective is to free yourself from constantly running the business and solving daily problems as they occur. All that should be handled by a capable and engaged workforce.

Starting a business from scratch means the owner needs to wear many hats. This is normal but as new people come on board they need to run with their job and own it. Assuming this will happen on it's own can be wishful thinking. Some people need more direction and training than others.

When people get hired they generally need more supervision. If you're leadership style is more controlling, that means you tend to manage more than lead. But to become a leader with the time to scale and have more creative freetime, you need to give up control and learn to empower team members.

Empowerment is a process that happens over time by implementing specific leadership practices and behaviors. It takes deliberate action based on a good knowledge and understanding of oneself and the skills to develop.

The need to manage for leaders will never go away as it is dependent on several circumstances. For example if a business crisis occurs or a director leaves the company, quick management action is required. You would need to step in and take back control until the situation is resolved. This would happen over time. So while transforming fully to leading through empowerment may be the goal, it can at times require reverting back to managing.

Here are 8 universal leadership/management competencies that are typically identified as effective and successful management skill sets. They are taken from our CheckPoint 360 degree leadership assessment.

Communication
Leadership
Adaptability
Relationships
Task management
Production
Development of others
Personal development

An 360 degree leadership skills assessment like the CheckPoint 360 provides feedback on how others perceive you as a leader/manager versus how you perceive yourself.

This powerful tool and approach to leadership development allows you to target in on crucial competencies to grow. It also provides a starting point to measure future progress and increases self-awareness. To grow as a leader you need to develop greater self-awareness through training and specific exercises.

To learn more about leadership development and the Manage2Lead System, schedule a discovery call with me to discuss your current and desired situation.

Stephen Goldberg