The bottom line is that without leadership your organization cannot effectively grow, and when you hire an individual with the potential leadership skills it can be much more effective to groom them from within your organization. An organizational leader knows the business inside and out, knows the bottom line and how money is made in the organization, and knows how to show others in the organization how to lead with the business in mind. However, it’s not all about the business, it’s about growing a strong culture of leadership, accountability and loyalty. When looking to hire any candidate who could have the potential for leadership within your organization, you must look for this mindset and also a track record of progressive individual growth, such as self education, community-oriented efforts, professional growth trajectory and a strong vision for a long-term role at your company.
Why do we have the mindset to hire leaders from within your business? Really, whenever you’re selecting a candidate to hire in your business, this idea should be in the back of your mind. As your business grows and employees grow in seniority, you will start to see natural leadership traits forming in individuals. The key here is to identify this early and not let it stagnate. As soon as an employee gets comfortable in a role (of course we mean when they have been identified as leaders you can hire from within your business), you should look at another role for them in the company. Put them in a broad range of roles, preferably with greater responsibility in each role, and once they have a holistic view of how the company runs then some senior leadership role may be a reward worth providing to them.
If you’re looking for a leader immediately, then you may not have the convenience of time to groom a leader within your organization. This is when it helps to have a strong network and some professional support in finding a leader. There are many organizations that are training individuals to be a leader just like what was described above; however, there is not a visible and progressive succession framework in the organization which creates a lot of well trained leaders with no where to go. Both of these situations can be very advantageous to you when you’re looking to hire a leader.
Leadership
So what do we mean by leadership? Within an organization the objective is to move that organization forward under a unified goal or vision. This vision cannot be attained with solid leadership. Therefore, as it employees individuals, the company must bring in those who align with the vision and move the strategy forward into action.
And at the end of the day, what a growing, successful company needs from all its leaders is: the skill of solid decision-making; the ability to make things happen through influence; the ability to persuade others of their objectives; and finally, the skill to motivate people to act independently in line with the objectives of the organization. There are many other traits that are valuable, but these are some of the key traits that will help your organization grow through solid leadership.
When you hire leadership from within the organization, individuals who are skilled at doing your business and already are aligned with your vision and strategy, you’re going to gain momentum in your business faster and quicker. While this isn’t always possible, Elite Executive can work with you to determine where the best candidates might be and how best to bring up a leader from within your business or from another similar business.
Some additional resources (tag as no follow, open new window):
https://www.inc.com/bill-green/the-8-characteristics-of-an-effective-business-leader.html