“Everybody wins when the leader gets better.”
– Craig Groeschel
You influence the results you get
In the dynamic landscape of organizational management, the role of leadership is pivotal. Leaders serve as the guiding force, setting the workplace’s tone, direction, and culture. However, the impact of leadership extends far beyond the confines of the executive suite. When leaders invest in their growth and development, the benefits ripple throughout the organization, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration. In this article, we explore why everybody wins when the leader gets better and that you influence the results you get. If you want better results than you currently get, you need to improve your leadership.
Every team is optimized for the result it gets. If you want better results, you need to optimize them by improving how you influence others. Leadership is influence, and any leader, no matter the position, needs to fully understand how they can use their influence to optimize effectiveness and efficiency, reach goals, and harvest business impact. To optimize any organisation, large, medium-sized or small, you need to use your full potential. As a leader, this means your role is to develop others and help them maximize their potential, but before you can do that, you must be a controlled self-leader. If you cannot lead yourself, you cannot expect others to trust and willingly follow you.
Building a culture of trust and collaboration
Trust is the foundation of effective leadership and organisational success. When leaders demonstrate control of their self-leadership by committing to continuous growth and development, they earn the trust and respect of their teams. This trust fosters open communication, collaboration, and teamwork, creating a supportive environment where employees feel valued, empowered, and motivated to contribute their best work. When a leader instead acts as if he is “fully trained”, he will lose confidence and will then become the lid of his organization. This means that leaders who are not open to and actively learn new things hinder their organization’s development. In a rapidly changing world, this is very dangerous. Many well-known examples of companies failed because they did not keep up with developments, such as Blockbuster, Kodak, and Nokia. And in a digital world, no person can stay updated on everything. Being humble and learning from others is very important for any leader today.
Leading by example
Leadership is not merely about issuing directives or making decisions; it’s about inspiring and empowering others to reach their full potential. When leaders prioritize their growth and development, they set a powerful example for their teams to follow. By demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement and learning, leaders encourage a culture of excellence and self-improvement within the organization. Leaders cannot expect others to grow and develop unless they lead by example. Your organisation’s success depends on how well you lead individual and team growth and development, starting with your own.
Enhancing employee engagement and retention
Employee engagement and retention are critical factors for organizational success. When leaders invest in their growth and development, they create opportunities for career advancement and personal growth for their employees. Organisations that do not invest in employee growth and development soon become unattractive places to work. Why? Employees want to stay competitive in the labour market. On the other hand, when employees feel they can and are encouraged to learn, it fosters a sense of loyalty and commitment among team members, leading to higher levels of employee engagement and retention.
Fostering innovation and creativity
Innovation flourishes in environments where leaders foster experimentation, risk-taking, and creative thinking. When leaders prioritize their self-development, they instil a culture of innovation and adaptability within the organization. By embracing novel ideas and approaches, leaders can catalyze innovation, unleash untapped potential, and outpace competitors. If your organization lacks innovation, scrutinize your leadership closely. Leaders must demonstrate that failure is not detrimental. Failure is, in fact, critical to unleashing the organisation’s innovative potential. Failure is an integral part of meaningful learning. Avoiding failure altogether may indicate a reluctance to venture beyond the comfort zone, which isn’t synonymous with safety. As a leader, acknowledging and learning from failures is crucial. By framing failures as valuable learning opportunities, leaders foster an environment of security where employees feel empowered to innovate. This, in turn, cultivates optimal conditions for innovation within the organization.
Driving organizational performance
The effectiveness of leadership has a direct impact on organisational performance. Studies consistently show that leadership correlates with employee engagement, productivity, and overall performance. Leaders who invest in developing their skills and capabilities are better equipped to motivate and inspire their teams, leading to improved outcomes and results.
Improve your impact
When you grow as a leader, you make a difference in your own life and in the lives of those around you.
Reasons to develop leaders
- Learning leaders help you become more effective and productive. Behind the scenes, leaders need to maximize their days and learn new tricks for batching work, organizing their flow, saving time, automating, delegating, and streamlining. You need to grow into those things that help you become more effective so that your time can be focused on what you’re called to do.
- Learning leaders help you manage and lead better. It’s not always easy to make the tough decisions, set the pace, or determine the best direction for the people you lead. Growing your skills and knowledge will aid you in the process.
- Learning leaders gives you insights into those around you. The better a leader can work with his/her team, the better everyone will be. Leaders must continually grow in their ability to care, connect, and communicate with those around them.
What sets successful leaders apart is not merely their efficiency in optimizing individual outputs,
but rather their ability to optimize the collective output of the entire team.
The cost of leadership development
- Development takes time. You need to invest time in your growth. It will not happen unless you make it happen. Many organisations spend much time on reactive work. “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” as Peter Drucker said. Unless you invest the time in continuous learning you risk falling into the trap of doing efficiently what should not be done at all. (länka till artikel)
- The development will cost you. Growth will cost more than time. To grow, you will have to purchase books and training, attend growth events, hire coaches and mentors, etc.
- Development requires energy and discipline. Growing as a leader requires dedication to becoming a lifelong learner. It’s constant and requires discipline to improve yourself and your leadership and make sure you find ways to fit learning into your schedule.
How to grow as a leader
Here are five overarching categories in which leaders can grow:
- Vision. Your vision for the outcome of your leadership will help you grow as a leader. Make sure you identify what kind of leader you want to be. Then, build habits to reinforce this vision.
- Habits. Leaders need habits to grow in their leadership. Reading, learning, discipline, preparation, scheduling, and taking care of your physical and spiritual lives are all supported one way or the other by your habits.
- Questions. One of the best ways to grow as a leader is to take on a learning posture. Ask questions, listen, and learn. Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers; be a dedicated lifelong learner.
- Challenge. Pinpoint your current challenge. Challenges help us to grow, just as lifting weights helps our muscles to grow stronger. What is your challenge, and what are you learning from it? If you don’t have a challenge, you’re probably not growing.
- Action. Growth requires action and movement. Actions may be as small as writing down goals or taking one step toward a goal you have. Action may be meeting with someone to learn more, reading a particular book, or signing up for a course or workshop. Leaders grow through action. If you feel like you are in motion and getting nowhere, it’s time to funnel your actions toward your goals.
Key takeaways
In conclusion, everybody wins when the leader gets better. By prioritizing your leadership growth and development, you can drive organizational performance, foster innovation and creativity, build a culture of trust and collaboration, and enhance employee engagement and retention. Investing in leadership development is not only beneficial for individual leaders but also for the entire organization. Effective leadership is more critical than ever in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. As the saying goes, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” and when leaders commit to getting better, they elevate themselves and everyone around them. If you consider yourself a leader, you must grow. And as you do, everyone wins.
Leadership Growth Benefits Everyone: When leaders prioritize their own growth and development, it benefits themselves and their teams, organizations, and, ultimately, customers. This creates a positive cycle of success.
Leadership Influences Results: Effective leadership influences organizational outcomes. By improving leadership, leaders can positively impact organizational success and create a thriving work environment.
Building Trust and Collaboration: Trust is crucial for effective leadership and organizational success. When leaders invest in their growth, they earn the trust and respect of their teams, fostering open communication, collaboration, and teamwork.
Leading by Example: Leadership isn’t just about making decisions; it’s about inspiring others to reach their potential. Leaders who prioritize their own growth set a powerful example, encouraging a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
Enhancing Employee Engagement and Retention: Investing in leadership development creates opportunities for career advancement and personal growth for employees, leading to higher levels of engagement and retention.
Fostering Innovation and Creativity: Innovation thrives in environments where leaders prioritize growth and development, fostering experimentation, risk-taking, and creative thinking.
Driving Organizational Performance: Effective leadership directly impacts organizational performance, including employee engagement, productivity, and overall success.
Personal Growth Makes a Difference: Personal growth benefits the leader and impacts the lives of those around them, creating a positive ripple effect.
Reasons to Grow: Growth enhances effectiveness, improves leadership, and provides insights into others, fostering better relationships and outcomes.
Overcoming Barriers to Growth: While growth requires time, investment, energy, and discipline, overcoming these barriers is essential for personal and organizational success.
Strategies for Leadership Growth: Leaders can grow by defining their vision, developing supportive habits, asking questions, embracing challenges, and taking purposeful actions toward their goals.
Reflection:
What do you do to become a better leader?
Do you want to learn how to build a winning organisation by enhancing your leadership skills?
