Strong organizations are built on a well-coordinated, talented leadership team. But how can you make sure that your team leaders reach their full potential?
If you want to get more out of your business, more from your teams, and more from your investments, you need to spend more time and effort developing the perfect leaders for your business.
How to improve the performance of your leadership team
Here are some of the best strategies for improving your leaders’ skills and performance:
1. Set better internal goals
One of the first things you can do is set better internal goals for your leaders. What exactly does it mean to be a “good leader” in your organization and how can your current employees get there? Good goals follow SMART criteria: They are goals that are Specific, measurable, reachable, relevant, and Time bound.
Any goal you set should be clear, easy to understand, and have objective performance goals. Each goal should be meaningful to your leaders, challenging (but feasible), and with a built-in time limit. Better goals motivate your leaders to improve their performance.
2. Invest in leadership training
It is also helpful to invest in an executive education and / or training program for your most promising internal leaders. Executive education gives your executives the experience, knowledge, and insight they need to perform better in your company. You also get access to a unique opportunity for team building and networking. It’s a relatively small investment that can result in a huge return.
3. Promote a healthy work culture
The nature of your work culture can have a dramatic impact on the performance of your leaders. For example, does your work culture support an ideal of autonomy and independence? In this case, you need to trust your leaders that they will carry out their responsibilities in their own way – and those leaders need to empower their subordinates to be efficient as well.
Healthy work cultures are also supportive, cooperative, and positive. Otherwise, a toxic or oppressive culture can cause even the best leaders to fail.
4. Promote from within
Many companies already follow this principle, but it is worth pointing out as a precursor for better leadership development. There is nothing wrong with hiring outside leadership candidates, especially if they have a much richer leadership history than any of your internal candidates. Indeed, the outside perspective can be good for your business.
However, encouraging from within offers some significant advantages. Because your leaders are much more familiar with the hierarchy of your organization and you are motivating more people on your team to work hard for promotions.
5. Enable a mix of different leadership styles
There are many different types of leadership styles and no “right” approach. Even if your overall work culture supports one style of leadership, a particular leader can add value to your business by taking a slightly different approach at the floor level.
Let many different leadership styles flourish in your organization and encourage diversity of thought. Different employees thrive in different conditions. The more adaptable you are, the better.
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6. Promotion of training and development
One training session is not enough for your managers to develop their full potential. Good leaders are constantly striving to improve themselves. Feed that instinct by encouraging continuous learning and development.
Encourage your leaders to take new courses that can help them grow and give them individual goals and assignments that can help them improve their own approach. You can also implement cross-training and identify viable pathways up the corporate ladder to fuel growth even further.
7. Recognize and reward your best leaders
Look for the team leaders in your organization who are performing the best. They motivate employees, set a perfect example and even help their fellow leaders perform better. Call out their good behavior and reward them as you can (with cash bonuses or less tangible perks).
8. Collect and adjust feedback
Lastly, make sure to collect feedback from your employees. What do you think of these leaders? Do you seem to be doing a good job? A candidate may seem effective on the surface, but when all of his subordinates are unhappy and are thinking about leaving, something is wrong. Here you will find specific new opportunities for improvement.
Start with the right leaders
It also stands to reason that your leaders will be much more effective if you hire (or promote) the right people for the job in the first place. Take the time to find the right candidates, even if it means taking inefficient, temporary measures in the meantime. The more time and patience you spend finding good leaders, the better you will do.
RELATED: 10 Daily Habits of Great Leaders
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