Not everyone is going to be the right fit for every organization. But how do business leaders determine the best candidates, and how do they nurture recruits to form winning teams? It all boils down to leadership – defining leadership, identifying leadership and exemplifying leadership.
“There's a huge difference between leadership and management,” Profitable Engagements CEO David Garrison told Forbes. “Most organizations do a great job of modeling and creating managers. Modeling leadership often proves to be a bigger challenge since we're not always clear on what great leadership looks like. Can a manager be a great leader? Can a leader be a great manager?”
Managers can become great leaders with the right management strategies, and those tactics can help them identify potential leaders to recruit and mentor. Want to fine tune your management process? Check out the following eight ways leaders can hire, train and motivate a world-class team:
1. Identify core values
What does a leader look like in your organization? What behaviors does a leader at your company exemplify? Before you can identify potential leaders to build a solid team, you need to identify the core values those leaders should possess. When conducting interviews, focus on these core values more than the content of a resume.
2. Set clear expectations
Expectations can provide purpose and clear expectations can serve as a powerful motivator. When everyone knows exactly what is expected, they can deliver positive results. Be sure expectations tie to company goals and objectives so that every team member understands the role they play in the team’s overall success.
3. Map KPIs
How does your organization measure success, and how do you determine whether your team is achieving its goals? Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) can help teams transform their strategies into success. KPIs, quantifiable metrics used to evaluate an individual’s or group’s efficiencies, help develop leaders by tracking their progress. Management can present their KPI reports using Beautiful.ai’s Smart Slide templates, complete with popular infographics like bar graphs, pie charts and line charts.
4. Use positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement will build leaders more effectively than their counterparts. Reinforce your organization’s core leadership values by acknowledging examples of them anytime you identify the actions. You’ll not only lift your team’s collective spirit, but you’ll be illustrating exactly what qualities are most encouraged to succeed in your organization. Don’t forget to always lead by example!
5. Concentrate on continued education
The best leaders don’t stop learning once they score their dream job. It’s important to nurture your leadership team by promoting continuing education and ongoing training. This can take the form of recurrent training on the job or outside educational pursuits. You’ll not only boost your team’s satisfaction with their jobs, but the lessons can help build well-rounded leaders who will benefit the company for years to come.
6. Create a roadmap
What are your team members’ goals and ambitions within and outside the organization? Mapping a roadmap to success can help leaders envision their goals and plan strategies to achieve them. Since visualization can be a powerful tool, illustrating a potential leader’s career growth in an infographic can work wonders to cement their plans and form a path to get there. Beautiful.ai users can customize our Roadmap presentation template or create their own leadership roadmap with any number of applicable Smart Slide templates.
7. Conduct regular reviews
While leaders might not need the close supervision required by some of their peers, it’s still important to regularly check in with your team. Keep the lines of communication open with regular reviews held at least quarterly. There, you not only can evaluate each team members’ performance, but also discuss their goals and successes within the organization. Take this time to gain an understanding of your potential leaders and help them develop strategies that will benefit the team and drive their careers.
8. Encourage growth
Stifling potential leaders is one of the quickest ways to discourage their growth in the organization. Instead, encourage growth by delegating responsibilities to potential leaders and demonstrating trust in their abilities. Team building activities are a positive way to encourage growth among all team members, while also allowing them to motivate one another.
