Unleash potential: How to develop leaders

Understand leadership needs today

To solve immediate problems, your leaders need enough self-awareness to understand how they are affecting or unintentionally contributing to those problems. When they don’t have access to that insight, they may become defensive and less open to changing their behavior. Establish a development plan that strengthens self-awareness, so your leaders get a better idea of what they can do to improve the work environment for everyone.

Understand the leadership needs of tomorrow

Tomorrow comes quickly, and your leaders need to be ready. They need to be able to anticipate potential challenges, growth opportunities, and changes in direction. Give them the space to be able to look ahead and encourage them to always be planning for the future.

Align leaders to vision and strategy

Make sure your leaders have a strong sense of purpose within your organization. What do you expect from them? Do their job responsibilities carry the mission and vision of your organization forward? Regularly revisit your strategy and how your leadership team fits into it.

Develop humility and resilience

The most successful leaders have humility and resilience — and research shows both of these competencies can be further developed. Leaders should be humble, open to feedback from everyone, and be able to recognize that they may not always have all the answers. Humility helps to cultivate psychological safety in themselves and in those around them.

Be willing to disrupt

Creativity is important for the future of all organizations, especially as the world of work continues to change. You may find that you can’t do things the way they’ve always been done. Giving your leaders the freedom to disrupt their thinking allows for more imaginative solutions to future challenges.