“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” - Warren Bennis

Leadership is vital to every organization. Some employees strive to be leaders and others can care less. Whether you are trying to attract new candidates or set an example for your current employees, leadership is important to study throughout the company. James P. Kahler, Content Specialist at Hireology said,

“77% of connected millennials (those who use social media regularly) said part of the reason they chose to work where they do is because of the company’s sense of purpose.”

Imagine the type of company you could have if you turned some of your employees into great leaders and shared that sense of purpose. We know you're thinking, "How can I transform employees into great leaders?" Here's how:

It All Starts with You
Employees can only grow as high as their leader. If you want your employees to become excellent leaders, you have to want that for them as well. Many of the great leaders place inordinate focus on ensuring their employees are smarter than they are, and then get out of their way once they are trained. While you may need to check your pride, investing in your people will only make your company better, which is what you want. 53% of fully engaged employees admit they perform by learning how their superiors work. Set the standard for the team by performing how you expect them to work and by showing them where they need to be more “hands off”.

Provide Professional Opportunities
Give your employees opportunities to grow and be successful. There are many ways to offer these opportunities: training, online education, networking opportunities, meetings, speaking slots and more. 

“About 37% of respondents to a survey said things would be better if their companies provided more training and educational opportunities, narrowly beating out the other desires employees expressed.”

Without opportunities to flex their leadership muscles (leading the coworkers on a team, managing a new project, being a lead within their department or networking on behalf of the company), employees may feel stuck and frustrated when their advancement doesn’t happen sooner. While it can be scary to offer these opportunities (instead of taking them yourself) to employees (who might mess them up once or twice), it’s a strong show of faith and a step in the right leadership direction. 

Employees need feedback, they need to know what they are doing great and what they could improve on. It’s important to always keep a constant communication with them. In the 2015 SocialHR Camp Conference, Maren Hogan(@marenhogan), CEO of Red Branch Media said,

“Praising employees for their project, their ability to learn from something from a colossal failure, how they got through a difficult time emotionally and still kept work up to speed, strength to admit when they were wrong.”

Use the Power of Mentors
Assign every employee a mentor or allow them to choose someone. Employees meeting with someone whether it be monthly or a weekly lunch to learn from and lean on someone in order to navigate their work. Twenty-percent of employees are currently lacking mentor/mentee relationships at work, but would like to be in one. There is always room for growth and we can’t be ignorant to that. Laura Vanderkam(@lvanderkam), Writer and Speaker with FastCompany said,

“In most cases, more time with the boss is a good thing. As people rose from 1 to 6 six hours spent with their direct leaders, they became 29% more inspired about their work, 30% more engaged (that is, likely to recommend their company as a great place to work), 16% more innovative, and 15% more intrinsically motivated (finding something interesting in most of their tasks).”

Anything above that 6 hours mark may feel like micromanagement to employees and again, thwart the leadership potential you’re attempting to cultivate.

Leadership is valuable. How you are influencing, educating and giving them access to opportunities can be the sure way to see not only growth in your company but seeing happier employees. Happier employees equal less turnover, better work environment and less money waste. In the end, you’ll see a difference in everyone, including yourself.

What are you doing to transform your employees into successful leaders?

Bio: Sean Pomeroy

While selling other companies software solutions, Sean worked with Michael Warden to design over a dozen applications for different organizations and industries over the years. Sean now focuses on the vision for the company, business development, and continues involvement in the software design of Cyber Recruiter, applicant tracking system and Cyber Train, learning management system. Want to see what Visibility Software has to offer? Take a demo now.

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