Why Leadership is important to us all
It is easy to dismiss Leadership Skills as “something I need to learn later on when the need comes up.“
For someone starting in a smaller pond, working with fewer people in a small business or a new graduate starting their career, it may make sense to set aside or leave leadership development on the back burner. It makes sense, right?
Wrong.
Here are 7 reasons why it is a good idea to invest in yourself as you build your career or in your people as you grow your business and/or your career:
- Leadership skills training isn’t learned overnight
Or a week. Or a month. Leadership skills take time simply because it requires a lot of trial and error. To get a grasp of the basics, one needs to continuously learn about others and oneself. To display leadership requires mastery and that takes time, effort, and many mistakes.
- The Leadership Gap is growing
According to the Center for Creative Leadership, the shortage in competitive leaders continues to grow globally. This means there is an opportunity for future leaders to step-up their game and take advantage of career opportunities.
- Good Leadership = Good Influence
Employees look to their leaders, even in the smallest of firms, to provide inspiration and drive. A good leader knows how to inspire ideas, critical thinking, and empower their people to perform at their best. And happier employees means more engagement, better performance, and an improvement in productivity.
- It will allow you to delegate
Effective delegation allows you to focus on other areas of expertise to grow your business or expand your skillset. This takes out micromanagement and builds trust between you and your team members.
- Understand your weak areas and how to address them
Another strong leadership skill is admitting failure and accepting that other people may be able to do a certain task better than you. It doesn’t mean you are not good, only that you need to find other people who can do it better so you can do more of what you are good at.
- Provide coaching and retain employees
Losing an employee costs an average of £30K according to Oxford Economics. The cost of labour turnover as well as lost information continues to rise. A good leader understands what makes their employees happy, what they need to grow, and ultimately what makes them stay in a job that they love. Providing coaching to address challenges, questions, and areas of improvement is necessary in making sure your employees’ needs are met and their worth in the company asserted.
- Ace job interviews
This one is for job hunters. The ability to display leadership skills in an initial interview can help give you a competitive edge. Even as leadership is not in the job description, organisations with an eye for growth and sustainability will look for candidates that can be groomed as leaders that can help them expand and work with other leaders.
Leadership is an important soft skill that can apply to almost any field of expertise. It is not limited to your current position and has the ability to help you move your career forward or grow an SME without spreading yourself too thin.
Making Business Matter is a soft skills training provider to the UK Grocery Industry. The organisation focuses on Sticky Learning ®, a method of teaching that encourages retention and application of learnings. One of the firm’s expertise includes leadership training and has created the Ultimate Guide to Leadership Skills to help create more leaders in the workplace.
Darren Smith