Leadership Effectiveness: Make Leaders Within Your Organization
Find
me a good leader and I will show you a great organization. Great leaders make
great nations, great societies, and greater institutions. In organizations, many
great leaders have set remarkable standards of achievements. The world still
sings praises for great business leaders like Lee Iacocca, Bill Gates, Henry
Ford, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, and more. These great leaders have been a
source of inspiration for companies worldwide to surge forward and achieve
greater business goals. However, we still find that companies continue to
grapple with the problems of mediocrity or low leadership potential among their
top rung executives.
Are leaders born or made? Can leaders be created out of ordinary people? What
makes a leader? These are not easy questions. Many HR theorists believe that
leadership skills are innate and can be honed. Some believe that leadership
talent can be created with the right form of leadership training. Several reams
of research material have been published on the concept of leadership, the
evolution and development of leaders.
Look around you. You have leaders in each area that touches your life.
Leadership skills can be found in teachers, office colleagues, or your swimming
coach. Leaders have a great way of influencing people's lives and their
thoughts. They motivate and propel people to move in a particular direction.
It is necessary to create leaders for the growth of the organization. An
organization that builds leaders is building its business on a sound structure.
Finding dormant leadership skills within employees is like looking for a needle
in a haystack. You can find leadership skills by if you interpret these signs:
- Is your employee a protagonist of any sort? Does she like to champion a cause?
- Does your employee have a history of leadership positions in social and professional setups?
- Do other employees find your budding leader to be dependable? Do they look for direction or guidance from your budding leader?
- Does your employee display a high degree of independence? Is she internally motivated?
These and many more signs can reveal the leadership talent in your employees.
There are many leadership talent search tools available to help you identify
potential leaders within the organization.
We know that leadership styles vary from highly autocratic to highly
collaborative. Leadership styles should be in sync with the organizational
needs. Individual leadership style should not clash with the organizational
leadership style. A harmonious relationship between various departmental heads
leads to healthy organizational environment. Leadership conflicts can weaken the
structure of the organization. It is rightly described in the proverb: When the
elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
History is replete with stories of great leaders who built great organizations.
For effective leadership, it is important that organizations practice true
empowerment of employees. Leadership skills should be nurtured and employees
should be given opportunities to rise in organizational hierarchy. Leadership
awards, special incentives for leadership potential, leadership competitions are
also other methods for leadership effectiveness. Companies should encourage
personal growth along. Leadership training programs should be modeled to effect
greater leadership talent within the organization.
