Dear CEO,
What Value Are Your Leaders Adding?
As you transition some of your people’s responsibilities to others, it’s possible that they may not be delivering the expected value. At this juncture, your influence in the company remains significant, but you may not have direct involvement in the day-to-day frontline operations anymore.
This shift emphasises the critical role of your frontline leaders. And this is exactly where the quality of your leaders comes into play.
Just think of it: Frontline leaders function at the implementation forefront of your business. What is more, they must achieve results through other people. Inefficiencies here are costly.
I’d like to help you navigate this conundrum.
The Value of Strong Frontline and Midlevel Leaders
Frontline and midlevel leaders serve as your representatives, or “imagers,” carrying out tasks that you just don’t have the capacity to do personally anymore. Entrusting responsibilities to them is integral to your company’s success, as they play a key role in maintaining the benchmarks you’ve established.
It stands to reason that whom you assign these leadership responsibilities to, and their leadership capabilities, directly impact the success of your business.
Common Failures in Leadership
Failures in leadership impact various aspects of your company, including its:
- Financial performance
- Reputation, in the market as well as among employees
- Customer loyalty
- Alignment between teams
- Effective individual contributions
- Organisational culture and identity
- Ability to successfully adapt and grow
Effective leadership influences the daily operations, direction, working relationships, hopes and dreams, and the overall spirit of the company.
Good leaders have an undeniable multiplying effect in a company—be it value-adding or leaking value.
CEO Actions: Strategies to Cultivate Effective Leadership
To leverage the impact of good leaders, the following actions will be a good start:
- Start with Self-Leadership: Leadership starts with the ability to lead yourself. You can’t lead others if you can’t lead yourself, and you can’t lead a team before you can lead others.
First-time leaders are thrust into leading others and leading a team at the same time, something they have most probably never done before. If they haven’t learned to lead themselves when this happens, they have a third learning burden to contend with.
Teaching people to lead themselves even before they accept a leadership role is a worthwhile investment and an opportunity to see who has what it takes to be a leader.
- Grow Leaders from Early On: Provide the necessary training, support, and coaching to develop strong leadership skills. Steve Gutzler once said: “Character is about managing your life well so you can lead others well.”
- Personally Oversee Leadership Appointments: Ensure the selection of capable individuals by taking the time needed to make well-informed decisions.
- Provide Proper Onboarding: Set new leaders up for success with comprehensive onboarding. Then you can delegate leadership responsibilities with confidence.
“The company often doesn’t give new managers enough preparation for how managing people is different from doing an individual contributor role.” — Lia Bosch, the founder of the consulting firm Thrive People Strategies, as quoted by Kathleen Davis in Fast Company
- Delegate Effectively and Avoid Micromanaging: Not letting go can disempower and frustrate leaders, rendering them less effective.
Gartner research has found that managers today are accountable for 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage. They carry the weight of leader expectations at the top while responding to employee expectations at the base.
- Avoid the Best Techie-as-Leader Trap: If it goes wrong, which it invariably does, it’s a double whammy. Not only is the leadership ineffective, but your best techie is now also underperforming technically.
- Empower Leaders with Authority to Act: By giving your leaders the authority to act, you create new leaders and help them grow.
- Adapt to Circumstances Thoughtfully: How a CEO makes changes has implications for leaders’ effectiveness and morale. Avoid abrupt or forced transitions, which create uncertainty, resistance, and dissent.
- Consider Splitting Technical and People Leadership: Assign these roles to two capable people to avoid the best techie-as-leader trap.
- Fix the System Before the People: Demming found that more than 90% of performance is governed by the system that people work in. When addressing risk of manager failure, look beyond the individual manager.
- Address Underperforming Leaders Promptly: Replace them immediately to minimise damage and maintain team morale. Don’t wait until they decide it’s not working, it is going to take too long, and the people and business will suffer unnecessarily.
Key Takeaways for Nurturing Successful Leaders
- Recognise and appreciate the value of good leaders.
- Select leaders based on their leadership abilities, especially their people leadership abilities.
- Expose people to basic leadership training even before they step into such a role.
- Treat your leaders with respect: consideration, courtesy, dignity, and take their perspectives seriously.
- Carefully support, apply, and empower your leaders—they are integral to your company’s success.
- Good leaders do have a mind of their own. Respect that for best results.
Leaders are essential assets to your organisation, serving as your representatives on the front lines. By nurturing and respecting their roles, you can expect a significant return on your investment, leading to the prosperity of your people and your business.
The Impact of Strong Leadership on Business Growth
Just imagine…the difference a team of good frontline leaders can make to your business success. Will you dare to set up, build, and equip a good leadership team? Your efforts will pay handsome dividends.
Start investing in your leaders today – book a consultation with us to learn how we can help you develop a strong, effective leadership team
Best wishes with cultivating fruitful, enjoyable, and above all memorable leadership journeys.
Sincerely,
The Leadership Coach