John Maxwell often says, “the hardest person to lead is myself.” Paul Martinelli, President of Empowered Living, puts it another way: “I’d be a lot farther along if I didn’t have to take me with me.”
Our team at Minnesota Leadership Center can all tell you stories of times they wish they would have had a mentor or coach guiding their progress. We’re sure you’ve been in a place like that, too.
The good news is: there is a proven three-part method of developing leaders that you can put in place for your company so you don’t have to do it all yourself (or worse: leave your leaders to figure it out for themselves!).
Internal Mentorship
Nobody at your company knows how to create your culture as well as you do. Build regular mentorship sessions with your top leaders into the regular operation of your business.
Focus your mentorship sessions on the nuances of your company culture and the daily habits and tasks that makes a leader effective in your specific business. Create action steps for your leaders to implement and follow up with them on a regular basis to support them.
Ongoing Masterclasses
When people get promoted to management, they often have little to know formal training in how to be a leader. They will tend to develop the hard skills of management, like data tracking, employee scheduling, etc. without developing the human skills that will make them effective at creating and retaining top talent at your company. Enroll your leaders in ongoing masterclasses to develop their core character and become examples of your strong company culture.
External Coaching
Every leader needs an unbiased thinking partner in their corner. Someone who can help them discover their blind spots, help implement the action steps given by their mentor, and make personal the development they receive from ongoing masterclasses.
It’s important this coach be removed from your company so your leaders feel confident knowing the coach is working for their best and highest self, free from any conflicts.