Leadership Development - Why Invest In It?

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Leadership development is defined as any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an organization or an individual. The recent economic times have resulted in some difficult decisions regarding allocation of resources for all businesses. Leadership itself is defined as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a given task. Allan Keith has stated, “Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen.” Given the definition of leadership is there a business or organization that can afford not to invest in the leadership development of their most important asset  (People!)?


The benefits of good leadership are numerous. There is a direct correlation to business success and the quality of leadership within the business or organization. In general, businesses with good leadership will have the following traits:

 More Productive and Profitable – good leaders are goal focused and achieve greater productivity with the resources provided.

 Better Vision – good leaders are able to plan for the future and make better decisions as changing business conditions dictate.

 Better Communication Skills – business is essentially about a series of crucial relationships. Customers, potential customers, vendors and employees. Effective and good leaders are able to communicate effectively and efficiently with all parties. Strong relationships allow opportunities to be maximized and problems or challenges to be overcome.

 Creativity – the ability to solve problems and work with diverse and challenging people requires creative skills to craft solutions in a timely and efficient manner. Good leaders also allow other team members to engage in a manner that allows for creative solutons for complex or difficult problems.

 Accountability and Credibility - good leaders take responsibility for their actions. A good leader knows that to lead others it is imperative that one must first learn to lead him/herself. A good leader will walk the talk. Responsibility mandates accountability or else the result is simple choas.

The benefits of leadership are well known and accepted. The key issue every business or organization must ask is are we developing leaders? The first critical question is can leaders be developed. The answer to this question is relatively simple to answer. List the qualities that are required to be a good leader on a white board or piece of paper. A quick review of these qualities will reveal that virtually all of them are qualities that can be developed. Leadership clearly is a trait or skill that can be developed.

A rather startling realization is that since leadership is a skill that can developed for virtually anyone, who in our business or organization is receiving leadership development. Executive level and managerial level employees in most businesses and organizations receive some type of leadership training or development. How effective is the development or training program. Are a high percentage of the executive’s good leaders? What about the management staff? Good leaders provide many if not most of the results listed above.

Is there a cost to implementing a good leadership development program? Yes there is a cost to create and implement a good leadership development program tailored to deliver the results a given business or organization desires. This can be called the cost of an investment. Successful businesses have found both in-house and out-sourced solutions. Resources that provide excellent leadership development training is  not in short supply.

Simultaneously, what is the cost of ineffective or poor leadership? Remember to include in the analysis the lost productivity and revenues. Lost opportunity in terms of relationships with customers, vendors, employees are more difficult to get an exact figure. However, what is the customer retention rate? How many new customers are obtained through referrals from current customers? What is the employee turnover rate? Number of employee related complaints and law suits?

A good leadership development program does have a cost in terms of an investment. Poor or average leadership within a business or organization has a much more substantial cost associated with it that can be determined. Leadership development must be a high priority for any forward thinking successful business or organization. In short, leadership development is something that every business or organization will need in order to achieve success.

Why invest in leadership development? Because Leadership Development is a business necessity! Please feel free to visit my website or contact me directly for more information at 847/541-5299.

Look for a future blog article on the importance of developing leadership skills for non-management staff. They are the likely the future managers! They have direct contact with the customers! Productivity and revenue generation is due in significant part to their effectiveness. Leadership development just makes great business sense.

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Employee Motivation

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PART ONE (Motivational Needs)



Abraham Maslow, one of the founding fathers of humanist approached to management, gave us much insight into the needs and motivation of people. Maslow theorized that human behavior is directed toward the fulfillment of several levels of needs that all people have in common. It is crucial to understand that while we strive to satisfy these needs, we must understand that different levels of needs will motivate us at different times. Directing your actions towards the gratification of the particular need of the moment will have the most meaning in terms of motivation.

Level One: Physiological Needs – These needs are hunger, thirst, fatigue, air and shelter. These are basic needs that must be met. People will go to any means to satisfy them. When satisfied, we are free to move to the next level.

Level Two: Safety Needs – these needs obviously relate to safety, security, protection and freedom from fear. Included here is the need to have order, laws and structure so a person can feel protected. In the modern world these needs are often represented by things such as regular income, financial stability and proper insurance. Examples in a workplace include safety needs such as equal treatment, fairness, honesty, due process or the right to be heard and arbitrary and unfair use of authority. OSHA laws and the American Disabilities Act are examples of how we try to fill these needs in an external manner. Once the safety needs are reasonably met we are free to go to the next level.

Level Three: Love and Belonging Needs – Social acceptance and love needs are strong desires with great motivating power for virtually everyone. This need to belong, to feel others around you that share your ideas and value you as a person, is a need that leads us to join a variety of social organizations, the most basic of which is a family. Love needs extend beyond romantic love and parent- child love. Love extends to the need for affiliation, to form friendships, to love and be loved, to join groups and to generally be well liked and accepted by others. Social acceptance is often an outward indication of the needs for self-acceptance. Being accepted by others offers us assurance that we are worthwhile.

Level Four: Self Esteem – Maslow actually acknowledged two levels of esteem needs. The first or lower level of esteem is focused on respect for others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige and attention. The second level of esteem or higher level esteem is the need for self-esteem, personal strength, competence, personal mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. It is important to note that according to Maslow only when levels one through four needs are satisfied can level five needs be addressed.

Level Five: Self Actualization – Maslow refers to this level as growth motivation. When a person is in need of one of the other four levels it is typically due to a deficit. Your body will tell you when you are hungry or thirsty. When we are afraid we will dwell on finding a solution or necessary protection. Self- actualization and self-fulfillment refer to the process of making maximum use of our abilities and talents.



Part 2 will talk about motivation in the workplace as it relates to the Five Levels. Please feel free to visit my website or contact me directly at 847/541-5299. To your success…

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL LEADERS: THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND SKILLS

Part 2 of 4

Part 1 of this series provided an overview of Highly Successful Leaders. We learned that there is no secret to being a leader. However, we also know that Highly Successful Leaders share three Principles and Skills. They are:

• Highly Successful leaders are AUTHENTIC – they know who they are and where they are going. They set the direction and pace for the organization and lead by example.

• Highly Successful Leaders provide VISION, VALUES, and STRATEGIES to transform their organization to higher levels of sustained success

• Highly Successful Leaders have PERSONAL and ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES which govern their behavior. They lead by values.

The focus of Part 2 is on being AUTHENTIC. Authentic is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “that which can be believed or accepted; trustworthy, reliable, genuine, and real.” When you identify leadership on a personal level, you develop the authenticity to become a world-class leader. Leadership must start with the individual. Personal leadership precedes professional leadership, and authenticity is a cornerstone for both.


An important trait of an authentic person is openness, because authenticity is grounded in freedom, which is openness to being. The authentic person is alive to possibilities: his own, other people and the world at large. This openness is expressed to others through honesty and accessibility. The authentic leader is one who creates an organization where everyone feels free to be open, innovative and alive to possibilities.


Authentic people understand who they are and what strengths they have. They also understand the weaknesses or limitations they have. They place themselves in positions to take advantage of their strengths while simultaneously avoiding as much as possible having to use their weaknesses or limitations. Another way of looking at it is they are the person who is the right fit for that particular position. Equally important they are able to see other’s strengths and find the right fit for those strengths. People who are able to utilize their strengths will find success. Success leads to more success.


The following quote is sums this up quite nicely “ Stop trying to put in what God left out and instead, work with what he put in.” Dr Robert Hartman. Dr Hartman is the founder of the science of Axiology.


Please feel free to visit my website or contact me directly for more information. I do utilize an assessment called the Attribute Index that can help identify what makes you authentic. Remember Leadership is a skill that can be developed. What are you doing to develop your leadership skills and the leadership skills of your team?

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL LEADERS: THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND SKILLS

PART I of 4

We can be assured of several things: the challenges facing us today will become even more challenging in the future; the speed with which change occurs will increase; and our competition will change. The only real constant we can be sure of is that change will take place. The challenge of the executive today is to create an organization that will maintain growth and improvement in an environment rife with rapid fire change.


Creating and leading an organization that will maintain a competitive advantage will require executives to transform an organizational culture founded on yesterday’s paradigms and ideas. Priorities will have to shift and thinking will have to change. Attitudes and behaviors reflecting new and different social and organizational values will have to be adapted. Adjusting to change for many people is difficult and stressful. Ultimately, success will require LEADERSHIP.

A leader is a person who does just that. He or she leads. Unfortunately, many are placed in a position of leadership yet few rise to the ranks of highly effective and strong leaders. Many books and studies have been written purporting to provide the secret to what makes a great leader. The truth of the matter is that there is no real secret. There are three guiding principles and skills that are fundamental to successful leaders everywhere.

•  First Highly Successful Leaders are AUTHENTIC – they know who they are and where they are going. They set the direction and pace for the organization and lead by example.

•  Second Highly Successful Leaders provide VISION, VALUES AND STRATEGIES to transform their organizations to higher levels of sustained success.

• Third Highly Successful Leaders have PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES which govern their behavior. They lead by values.

Leading today’s organization into tomorrow’s competitive arena will require that individuals and organizations redefine their values and identify how these values translate into a leadership philosophy. Values-based leadership focuses on balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of the organization by aligning the vision, values and resources of all concerned.



Part II of this four part series will focus on being AUTHENTIC.

Part III will discuss VISION, VALUES AND STRATEGIES

Part IV will discuss PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES

Leadership is a skill that can be developed. What are you doing to develop leadership skills for you and/or other members of your leadership team? Feel free to visit my website or contact me directly for more information.