We look to our leaders for answers, and rightly so. But do we place too many expectations on them? Do we view them only as a source for answers, forgetting they too may have questions?
Just as those starting out in their careers are on a journey to growth and expertise, so too are our leaders. They’re just a little further down the line. So, if we place importance on employee development, why not leadership development?
Without this foundational understanding, anything a business tries to build internally – from management techniques to entire growth plans – is at risk of being built on sand.
Developing executive leadership leads to business growth
We all grow into leaders. Some of us have inherent strengths that lend ourselves well to leadership, but no matter what our traits are, we learn as we go and grow into our roles.
When we think of CEOs it’s easy to assume they represent a peak of knowledge and experience. We rightly look to them for answers but incorrectly work under the implicit assumption that CEOs have reached a ceiling in their own personal and professional growth. Because of this, leaders often put unreasonable pressure on their own decision-making, expecting themselves to be infallible.
But CEOs are like anyone in a business. They need ongoing support and training. While the buck stops with them, they play an individual role like everyone else in the business, where no single effort is greater than the rest. So, when they’re the one making high-level decisions that help direct the ship, why would we not want them to receive training and support to make the best decisions possible?
An overworked CEO who can’t manage their priorities results in a mismanaged business that can’t grow. This is why a CEO working with a proven and simple framework for growth, while receiving ongoing support and advice, can remove themselves from unnecessary tasks and build their own high-level decision-making skills.
Supporting executive leadership teams trickles down
Too few business leaders and their supporting teams understand that with business growth comes business complexity.
This complexity grows exponentially. Two people only need to communicate with each other, creating one necessary communication channel. The more people and processes you add to your business, the greater the number of processes and complexities. For instance:
| No. of people in your business | Exponential Communication points and flow ( to and from) |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 24 |
| 5 | 120 |
| 6 | 720, etc |
Alongside these measurable communications increases come processes that can be much harder to track.
There are three steps (as revealed by research by ghSMART) to help your leadership team simplify complexities by way of their own professional growth:
1. Give your team responsibility
Limit complexity by returning authority to your leadership teams. Give them broad responsibilities that require them to develop and hone skills that set them up for potential CEO roles in the future.
2. Develop your team’s big-picture thinking
Beyond their department or specialisations, reinforce CEO-like thinking in your leadership team. This means engaging with them on what a CEO thinks about – for example: stakeholder management, value creation, long-term growth outlooks.
Developing broader responsibilities and long-term thinking will help them identify opportunities to simplify and streamline processes and avoid micromanaging processes and employees.
3. Challenge them regularly
Stretch the knowledge and experience of your leadership team. Just like you and anyone else in your business, their skills need to be developed like a muscle by being placed outside their comfort zone. Be open to mistakes and manage this risk, as these mistakes are necessary for building leaders and better processes.
The process begins with education and reading
Look to conferences, coaching, books, brainstorming sessions, workshops, consultants, podcast discussions – you name it, there are opportunities to grow your leadership skills and those of your team by educating yourself.
Of course, it can be hard to know where to start. The Paradox of Choice sees many leaders lean back on old crutches and fall back into messy processes.
Engaging with an accredited business advisor can be a simple first step to accessing education and support. It’s their job to stay atop of research and expertise and then provide this to you without overwhelming you with ideas. They can shape and suggest how you apply what you learn to an evolving growth strategy.
