Leadership Development Academy: Why Every Company Needs One

Business Inspiration

No business market has ever remained static. As with everything in the world, markets constantly fluctuate because of many external reasons, and they often shift on a month to month basis. As it’s the case with every market, the talent market works in cycles too. It too constantly switches from the market being focused on employers to a market focused on employees, and that switch sometimes happens very quickly.

According to the latest statistics, the unemployment rate of the US has dropped to 3.7% in September of 2018, which is vastly different than to the 9.6% of September of 2009 when the Recession was still in effect.

Even though having a low unemployment rate is generally seen as a good thing, it can cause harmful effects to many employers, namely because there is a much smaller pool of potential candidates to choose from. There is a much smaller number of skilled candidates to pick from, and the number of candidates that lack the required skills is increased.

Considering the case and continuing trend of low unemployment rates, it’s becoming very necessary for companies to foster and develop talent internally. This means that businesses need to invest in their employees so that they have an increased chance of retaining them.

Kyle Porter, who is a CEO of SalesLoft, recently said that whenever a company loses an employee, it’s rarely the individual’s fault. Per his words, a company has to create an environment that the employees would prefer to work in, one that would allow them to grow and improve.

When the unemployment rates are higher and the market shifts its focus to employers, paychecks are the biggest driving force behind employee retention. But in today’s talent market, most businesses have to poach talent from other companies, simply because the talent pool has significantly dried up.

What can companies do?

Most business can do good to learn from the financial market. The best and most efficient investors usually get creative with how they play defense and offense on the market. Their goal becomes to lose less than the average or get the maximum possible return. This can be the best lesson companies can utilize to keep their talent pool steady.

If the market becomes increasingly defensive, as it’s currently doing, possibly the best move would be to play aggressively. Companies like Lippert Components, and their CEO Jason Lippert, have devised a very effective strategy to reduce the number of employee turnover and increase their talent pool. They focused on honing the leadership capabilities of their employees in a very direct and straightforward manner, and to create a company culture that would benefit every individual within its ranks.

With the creation of their leadership academy over a four year period, where they trained employees to become much better leaders, they reached excellent results. The employee turnover rate reduced to 30%, which is well below the industry standard, and they saw an increase in work application. All of this because the company realized that in order to be as efficient as possible they needed to create a culture that would nurture its employees.

Achim Neumann, President of A Neumann & Associates LLC, an M&A Advisory Firm in New Jersey says, “One of the core responsibilities of an employer is to develop and nurture the skills of their employees. It’s something that many employees have come to expect and for a good reason. That always leads to a much more efficient business or company.”

Every business and company can implement the same idea of a leadership academy. A budget like the one of Lippert Components isn’t required, because all it takes is the drive to improve. The business that strives to be as good as possible needs business leaders who will drive the company to gradual success over time. True success doesn’t come overnight, and there are three things that every business should be aware of:

  • Feedback is crucial – one of the worst offenses a leader can make is think they’re doing a fine job without any feedback. Employee feedback is something no business should skip out on, as it can create tons of potential situations for improvement.
  • Modernization – many businesses the world-over don’t modernize at the appropriate rate. This means to create valuable content with modern principles, instead of being stuck in a position where the content doesn’t feel relevant and fresh.
  • Learning and improvement – leadership is a skill that is learned by doing. Simply by focusing on learning as much as possible, a leader can create many opportunities for improvement for every individual in the business.
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Leadership: Putting an end to the Classic Myths

Business Education Entrepreneurship

It’s become something of a buzzword in the industry over the last few years, with umpteen autobiographies and business journals really putting a spin on the term “leadership”.

In truth, this isn’t something that you can pick up a book and learn in a flash. Sure, if you were to turn to the best online MBA, you would probably see some real progress, but a lot of people rely on pure experience over a long period of time.

The problem with a lot of the autobiographies is that they are very opinion-based. In the business world especially, there are a lot of opinions doing the round. This, in turn, creates a lot of misconceptions which can cloud the issue of leadership somewhat.

Bearing this in mind, today’s post is going to tackle some of these leadership myths, and highlight what’s really true about the elusive L-word.

“Leaders have to be born”

This is one of the most ridiculous myths of all. There’s no doubt that every person in the world is born with a different personality, and some of these personality types will be associated with leadership more than others.

However, to suggest that leaders can’t be made would be a gross inaccuracy. Many believe that leaders are created through the circumstances that they find themselves in. There will be occasions when they naturally find themselves in said circumstances, and others where they strategically place themselves in these situations to try and develop themselves. To coin the same example, studying for an MBA is a case of someone aiming to creep out of their comfort zone and ultimately develop their leadership qualities.

“Leaders will never delegate the important tasks”

This is another myth that couldn’t be further from the truth. One of the most important things that a leader needs to be able to do successfully is delegate. This is a point that few would disagree with.

It’s plain wrong to suggest that leaders won’t delegate the most important tasks on their agenda though. On the contrary, they will find the right person to do the job. In some situations, this might involve them carrying out the task themselves, but on others they will be more than happy to delegate accordingly.

“Leaders are imposing and charismatic”

One of the biggest stereotypes of leaders is that they are imposing figures that are full of charisma. The main reason behind this misconception is that it’s these types of leaders which tend to find themselves in the public domain. In other words, they put themselves in the shop-window, and everyone else thinks that there is no other way to be a leader.

However, if we were to view leaders around the world, the overriding characteristic would be influence. Some might do this through more vocal ways than others, but the key attribute beneath everything is the ability to influence others. Others will respect them, and it’s not necessarily for the way that they portray their ideas.

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How to Succeed as a Business Entrepreneur – 6 Top Ways

Entrepreneurship

Having taken the primary and most important step, which was to set the wheels of your business project into motion, the next step would be to discover new ways to make it grow and prosper successfully. 

It is important to realize that you need to dedicate your heart and soul to the initiative for it to receive a great number of responses.

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The most important thought you would need to inculcate is that this would be a result of all the hard work, the creativity and the love that you put in to bring the project to life. So be ready to breathe it, eat it, dream it and live it!

Make it a point to read some quotes every day. Motivational quotes have the power to influence your mindset and allow you to function effectively!

Here are six important pointers to help you become a successful business entrepreneur!

  • Become more vocal

It is imperative that you break out from that shell of yours and become more social. No better time than now to begin engaging with others who are in the same place as you. The best form of help is self-help.

So let’s start there. Make it a point to get to know different people, and tell them about your new project. Speak freely and with confidence. Make it an engaging conversation. Allow them to pass criticism and pick it up from there. When they see the fire and passion in your voice, they will begin to take you more seriously

  • Marketing Online

Another way to spread the word effectively is talk about on the internet. Create a website that elaborately depicts your project in an intricate, catchy yet professional way. Outline your project details effectively and highlight the essentials. Spread the word by sharing the website page on your social media accounts.

You could use your friends’ and family’s help by asking them to do the same as well. Build a strong front by exploring various such upcoming start-ups and mutually help each other to grow together.

  • Lend a Helping Hand

Remember that there are probably many out there like you trying to come up with their own business ideas, and so it’s much easier when you engage with such people. Don’t hesitate to offer them help and let them know when you come across new, innovative ways to sell your project. This will always come in handy because this way you get to learn so much and have a diverse exposure to all kinds of people and projects.

Also, when you lead a helping hand, you can be sure to receive the same when you need it!

  • Good Strategy and Testing

Come up with a good enough strategy to outline your project, beginning from the initial to final steps of development of the project, making sure you’ve kept in mind all the little details. It must be a fool-proof strategy, and you must be able to work out any shortcomings. Investing into franchises is a great way not to only make money but to start a business in the future.

The final step before delivering the product to the public would be to test it amongst close friends who would appreciate and criticize you at the same time. Absorb the good and work on the negatives.

  • Come Up With Good Customer Service

This is the next big thing which would help your business grow! Put in place a team which dedicates itself to satisfy the needs of your customers. This is highly necessary if you want good reviews and expansion of your business. This will go a long way to getting contacts as well.

  • Believe In Yourself

This is the first and last thing on your mind when you work on your project every day. Trust yourself to make right choices and stand by it. It all works out for the best when you believe in yourself and in your dreams.

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