5 Things That Stifle Leaders in Your Business

A lot of times as business owners we think we have all the answers. In many cases we’ve taken a lot of the initial risk, built a brand, handled finances and rode the waves of success and failure. Once we’re lucky enough to have people come and work for our brands and companies, it’s important that we realize that we no longer have to possess all of the answers.

However, for many companies around the world, there is a failure to develop true leadership. Owners and hiring managers might be groomed to look for true leaders that can assist them in future growth of the company, but when the ideas and strategies start pouring out into the meeting rooms, sometimes they are stifled — which in turn stifles your potential leaders.

Here are a five of the many things you need to be aware of if you’re looking to create leaders within your company:

1. LISTEN: This is the most important aspect of building someone into leadership. You must be open to hear what your potential leaders are saying. If you wind up ignoring these individuals and not taking time to hear their plans, you’ll be telling them you’re not interested, and they’ll take their leadership skills elsewhere.
2. BE OPEN: Leaders won’t always want change, but they will be looking at your business from an outside perspective. They may want you to hear out what they’re seeing and be open to strategies that could make your company more profitable or efficient.
3. TALK: Grooming great leaders means sharing insights into your business, sharing your knowledge and discussing the roles you expect of them. Leadership doesn’t always mean managing people. Therefore, it’s important your prospective leaders know exactly what you expect of them in their role. In this way, you’ll be able to watch them fully exceed your expectations.
4. REFLECTION: Many times in growing companies we discuss what we want to see accomplished — whether in the next quarter or over the next year. With so much forward discussion, we rarely spend enough time discussing what has occurred in that same time period. This leaves leaders wondering if they did well, or if you’d like to have seen something different.
5. PRAISE: I actually had a boss once that said he didn’t praise me as much as the others in the company because I didn’t seem to showcase the traits that would make him think I needed it. If you want to have great employees and great leaders, spend more time praising than scolding. Also, never stay silent with people you want to lead your company. If they didn’t want praise, they’d go start their own company. But, they work for you … they jump high for you, so tell them you notice, your appreciative and that their role at your company is valued, and do this often.