I get it. You’ve built your business up from nothing. You’re really good at what you do. You have all the clients you need. So why invest in this airy fairy leadership training? You haven’t needed it yet, right?
Well, a couple of things to say on that. One is what got you here won’t get you there. The second is by not investing in leadership training, you could actually be costing your business more than you think.
Building a successful business is inextricably linked to strong leadership skills. Think about it. Even when you have no staff, are you a leader? Of course you are. You are a leader to your customers, your suppliers and your community. Building strong leadership skills is a core component of any business. Its not just about leadership either, do you think the communication skills you learn in leadership training will help anywhere else? Of course it will. It will help you in all your relationships, from customers and suppliers to your personal life. It just makes sense that any business owner needs these basic skills. Organisations that promote a healthy attitude towards things like leadership training position themselves better to achieving overall business growth.
Unfortunately, not enough small businesses take the time or commit the resources towards leadership training or for that matter succession planning. This leads to demotivated staff, high turnover percentages, low team performance and a severe lack of collaboration.
Any decent leadership training will boost your overall communication skills and give you a great understanding of what motivates your people. This will allow you to tailor your methods to suit the individual in a manner that compels them into action. It cultivates a culture of learning which means that every person at every level in the organisation becomes a leader in their own right. Imagine that, everybody becomes a leader. How would that look in your business?
Furthermore, an ongoing leadership development program ensures leaders of the future are identified and retained. This means that people don’t reach their potential at some point in the future, they reach their potential right now!
There are hidden benefits as well. As we have said engaging in leadership training has knock on effects to other areas, and nurturing your team will directly benefit the business with improved customer service, improved sales conversations which will increase your conversion rate and because person interaction is improved, the overall operations of the business will run a whole heap smoother.
All of this will improve your brand within the market, and this will mean good talent will seek you out, instead of you having to run laborious recruitment campaigns. Imagine that, good candidates finding you!
Because you will have clearer goals and a clear vision of how to get there, every department will be able to identify the best strategy in order to make it happen. Because you will have engaged employees, you will get better ideas, making them easier to implement – everybody is already on the bus, its not required for you to ‘sell’ ideas. This can impact almost any are of the business, but the obvious example is the marketing department who will be fully engaged round any campaign.
Finally, any leadership programme will have an affect on you, the owner without you even attending. See, if your employees are stepping up to be the best they can be, you will have to do the same. Your strengths will be strengthened. Your skills honed. You confidence in yourself and your team will soar. You’re now surrounded by other leaders all giving the best to the business to draw on and enhance your skills as a result. Throughout the organisation it will encourage reflection, and this will in turn result in an increase in productivity and enhance the management of the organisation. All in all, it will make the organisation more effective.
Knowing this, can you afford not to have ongoing leadership and training support? All it requires is for you to create a plan and you will start seeing the benefits almost immediately.
Make sure you drop me a message to gain an insight as to what leadership support I can give to your business.
