NCET Biz Tips: Everything else requires leadership
By Jodi Herzik
Jodi Herzik
The key to making extraordinary things happen in organizations is great leadership. It contributes more to positive outcomes than any other single factor. Great products, great people, great strategy, great systems are critical, but great leadership is the secret sauce that makes an organization successful.
As the management guru Peter Drucker put it, “Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.”
When those in leadership roles lack the skills to provide guidance and motivate staff, organizational culture and morale suffer. Poor leadership negatively influences employee satisfaction, which in turn negatively affects employee productivity. Smart CEO reports that poor leadership practices cost the typical company 7% in total annual sales and are cause for as much as a 32% higher rate of voluntary employee turnover.
The next question you might logically ask is “Can we develop great leaders?” The answer is “yes!” Rosen and Brown, in their book Leading People, compiled findings from multiple studies that focused on interviews at three thousand of the largest companies in America, and found that while poor leadership costs American companies more than half their human potential, organizations that invest in leadership training have a 32% more engaged employees. Data also suggested close-to double the levels of worker productivity, which translated directly to the bottom line. The single biggest influence on employee commitment and performance is the leadership skills of their managers.
Investing in leadership training can bring the following positive changes:
More Productive Team. Effective managers are confident in their roles and have the ability to motivate staff to perform to the best of their abilities.
Higher Employee Retention. Employees want consistent skilled leaders.
Increased Productivity. Well-trained managers are able to set realistic goals and develop strategic work plans.
Increased Employee Engagement. Giving feedback is a skill of successful managers.
Reduced Workplace Conflict. Managers with good interpersonal skills can help increase understanding between colleagues.
Better Decision-Making. Managers functioning at a high level of emotional intelligence have the perspective to make informed, intelligent business decisions.
Greater Profitability. Effective management training prepares managers for the day-to-day reality of running an organization.
Can your current leaders support, delegate, inspire, celebrate, and challenge their team to perform at the highest level? The good news is that when organizations invest in leadership development training, there is enormous potential to improve culture and strengthen their bottom line.
The University of Nevada, Reno’s new Advanced Leadership Academy kicks-off on February 13 at the UNR Redfield Campus. This five-month training and coaching program is designed to develop and support senior leaders and key team members by providing the tools and techniques to better lead change within an organization, inspire teams, set strategy, drive innovation, improve efficiency and help retain top performing team members.
Jodi Herzik is the Executive Director Professional Development Programs for the University of Nevada, Reno Division of Extended Studies and NCET’s VP of Biz Café.
NCET is a member-supported non-profit organization that produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology. www.NCET.org