Leadership Development: Why Do It?

The problem with leadership development programs nowadays is the expense for bringing in outside consultants or initiating the program. This can be back-breaking for a small company or mid-level size business. The question that you're asking is whether it's worth it to institute such a program. The short answer is, yes! The advantages of leadership development will eventually outweigh its disadvantages. Let's see a few reasons why you should be setting up such a program for your business:

a) Better Employee Morale – the obvious result of having a leadership development program is the happiness of your employees. Good leadership inspires employee contentment. This is because they can trust in their leaders to the right thing for them. A bad leader or manager can be a disaster for a company. Employees should be able to believe that their superiors are looking out for their well-being and that they are competent. Bad leaders lower this confidence and wrecks the relationship between employees and management.

b) Lowers Employee Loss - One of the advantages of having high employee happiness is that they are less prone to leaving. This prevents the loss of skilled and trained workers and enables your company to work at a consistent level of performance. Training employees up to par is an expensive and time-consuming process and you would be wise to avoid having veteran workers leave.

c) Better Worker Performance – Happy employees work better. This is a fact. Having your people be content to be working their jobs is not just enough though. Good leaders can inspire their followers to work better and to do more for their company. Of course, they won't do it for free but with an inspirational head at the lead, they won't whine so much and sometimes they'll even be glad to do it.

d) Keeps The Company On-Track – Good leaders know the pulse of the company. This means they can see how issues can sometimes affect the companies' employees. Heading off any problems before they begin, they can keep the company focused on work and not be blindsided by petty issues or surprise problems. This also gives them a chance to plan for the future and give the company a clear set of goals that the company can aim for.
e) Cultivates New Innovations – Effective leaders encourage a culture that develops talent. This is because good leaders recognize that they cannot see everything and do everything. Their team members have to do their part. An open environment that encourages feedback and independent thinking is exactly the right sort of place for future innovations and prospective leaders to shine. This will help your business in the long run.

f) It's Cheaper Than It Looks – Finally, leadership development is not as expensive as you think it is. Good books like John Maxwell's “101” series can give you the basics that you need to develop your own leadership skills. The other half of the know-how is the willingness to do it – and that costs almost next to nothing.

Leadership development is the wave of the future and you should get your company on that wave as soon as possible.