Leadership and Management

Effective leadership shines not only when the going is good, but also (even more so, sometimes) when things are rough. They are respected (not feared) by the people around them, who in turn, become motivated to work harder and make more significant contributions to the betterment of the organisation as well.

Leadership is not about working towards a goal single-handedly. Leadership is about inspiring and motivating people to work together towards a goal.

Leadership is the most influential and critical element of all businesses. Effective leaders have the necessary tools and skills to inspire and impact their teams, allowing firms to run competently and smoothly. As a good leader, you should understand the mission statements, objectives, actions plan and goals of the company to be able to lead your workforce into realising them.

What makes Leaders?

Are leaders born or made? It is a never-ending debate that has merits on both sides. Still, ultimately the strong personality that is needed within a leadership role suggests that such people have the right genetic makeup to succeed. Although training can support the development and mental aptitude of a potential leader, the process would have begun mana, many years before. 

Youth football club captains, scout leaders, playground game initiators and those who led the way at group games at parties, all had the hallmarks of the early development of leadership qualities. It takes a dedicated and strict mindset to be in the position of leader, one that always demands a tough character trait and an unnerving ability to adapt. 

But behavioural theories believe that people can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning and observation. Leadership is a set of skills that can be learned by training, perception, practice, and experience over time. But knowledge must come from the right mindset in the first case, suggesting that leadership can be supplemented by learning and experience on top of an already adapted thinking process. 

What do Leaders do?

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Yet, while leaders set the course, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, smoothly and efficiently.

Beyond decision making, successful leadership across all areas becomes learned and instinctual over a period. Successful leaders have discovered the mastery of anticipating business patterns, finding opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they lead and overcoming hardships. It is often agreed that a leader’s primary business function is to:

· Make Others Feel Safe to Speak-Up

· Make Decisions 

· Communicate Expectations 

· Challenge People to Think

· Be Accountable to others

· Lead by example 

· Measure and reward Performance 

· Provide continues feedback

· Allocate and deploy talent

· Ask Questions and Seek Answers 

· Help Problem Solve 

· Have a Positive Energy and Attitude 

· Be a great teacher 

· Invest in relationships

· Enjoy the pressure of responsibility 

The need for strong leadership 

In a time of crisis, the need for reliable, compassionate, resolutive and defined leadership is clear. The leadership of a business is felt throughout an organisation and can be the difference between a company’s success or failings.

Most businesses have a vision of where they would like to be in the future and how they would like to be perceived by clients, stakeholders, and the wider community. By implementing business values and vision, leaders are helping to boost morale, ensure effective internal communication, motivate employees, and provide appropriate resources for all staff. 

Leaders exist in all parts of a business process, from the founder and owner, right down to the team leaders in each department that have a crucial business role—leading by example.

Reasons why training is imperative for your business:

Improves employee performance

The prime motivator for employee training is to improve productivity and performance. It provides your employees with the expertise they need to fulfil their role and make a positive impact on your business. The skills they learn empower them to deliver a better quality of work with a fast turnaround rate. 

It also gives your hires a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities within your organisation. They know their targets and they're equipped with the tools to effectively meet them. 

Increases engagement

Engaged employees have an increased level of productivity. Through training, you're continuously engaging your employees and enabling them to engage back. There is two-way communication, opinions and internal workings are shared, meaning your employees are always up to date with what’s going on. This makes them more emotionally invested. They care about their role and are more willing to commit their time and energy to the company.

Improves employee retention and growth

It's common knowledge that the hiring and onboarding process can be a costly and time-consuming task. And a powerful by-product of increased performance and engagement through training is improved employee retention.

Training boosts a feeling of value in employees. 

It shows that you’re committed to providing them with the resources needed to ensure they’re doing a good job. In turn, they’re more likely to enjoy their work and remain in your organisation for longer. It also nurtures them further in their career within your organisation. One of the biggest benefits is that you’ll have more opportunities to hire from within, reducing recruiting and onboarding costs for your business.

Consistency in training

Creating consistency within an organisation is difficult, but training helps reduce the disparity between your teams. Each employee has baseline knowledge of their individual and their team’s goals, putting everyone on the same page. Additionally, employees all receiving the same training means they share responsibility and are aware of their role on the team.

Tracks employee skills

With eLearning, particularly with a learning management system (LMS), you can track the training your employees have taken. This has two big advantages.

Reports

Through insightful reports, you know if your employees are up to date with their training. Reports are a powerful tool if you’re delivering onboarding training or have to prove training has taken place, as is usually the case for compliance training. Tracking your training also helps you to provide better training for your employees. It enables you to identify what they are and aren’t engaging with. So, you can improve your course content based on these insights, ensuring that your employees get better training overall.

Address internal weaknesses

A lack of awareness of internal weakness is a hazardous thing within a business. Training overcomes this as you can educate your employees on important subjects that help overcome and avoid any issues. Additionally, it creates a knowledge-sharing environment - your employees learn from managements’ and each others' past mistakes and wins. This ensures that recurring mistakes are reduced and your employees know the strategies for success.

Happier customers

Perhaps the most impactful aspect of employee training is its beneficial effect on your business’s growth. Simply put, better-trained employees make more productive team members, that serve your customers better. The result of this is that your customer retention increases - happier customers stick around for longer and buy more. This can powerfully fuel your business’s growth.