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5 Strategies for Encouraging Employees to be Leaders

6480707-2Thinking that an organization needs only one leader is very wrong, and often ends badly for everyone involved. Sure, having a great leader that charts the course and motivates others is key to success in business, but an organization must have a variety of leaders across a range of company levels, as well.

As a matter of fact, the most effective business people got to where they are today because they learned the importance of identifying and cultivating leadership in employees. When you find employees who have the skill set to lead, in addition to work within the company, you can overcome many obstacles and help ensure that decisions are made rapidly and with few mistakes.

In this strategy, you play the main role, which means that you are the leader of every potential leader in the company.

Wondering how you can achieve this? Here are some ideas.

 

1. Keep Your Team Energized

A leader should be strict in order to keep the company in a working function, but there is no point in being the type of boss that takes all the joy from working in the company. If an employee is unhappy, so will be the business.

'Positive energy can do wonders for a company. You cannot expect for an employee to do their best if you don't set that goal for them' – says Peter Keen, an HR manager at RushMyEssay.co.uk.

Instead of taking energy away, a true leader should focus on giving this energy to the employees. When an employee is happy and energized in the workplace, they will be more apt to help you pull the company through even the worst periods. You will start noticing how much faster they respond to requests, an increased willingness to help, and other efforts to hold onto a great job while helping the company succeed.

 

2. Promote Teamwork

When you choose the employees for your teams, give them some space to create their own strategies. Set the right path and goals for your team, but always aim to promote teamwork. If you allow employees to operate in cross-functional groups and give them opportunities to express themselves, they are much more likely to think outside of the box.

In such a competitive business world, this is exactly what you need.

How can you promote leadership in teams?

Encourage your employees to take turns taking on leadership roles. These roles can be both formal and informal, but the important thing to do here is to reward the employees when they do things right. Such practice is a great way to improve communication in the organization, as well as create opportunities for leadership at all levels.

 

3. Provide a Stream of Information

It is never a good idea to keep your employees out of the loop. If you want to increase the number of leaders in the company, you need to be more generous with the information you are sharing. Without essential information, people won't have an opportunity to take on any kind of expanded role in your organization.

Instead of being vague and secretive about the company and things like its current strategies, goals, production levels, targeted customers, etc. be more transparent with it. Provide the employees with the exact amount of information that allows them to shine, but prevents them from doing something that will put your company at risk. Only in this way are you guiding them to become leaders while bringing more insight and knowledge to help with decisions at-hand.

 

4. Give Some Decision-Making Authority

We are not speaking of giving full authority to employees. After all, this is what the boss' job is all about. However, the fact that you are the leader of the company does not mean that there should not be others that motivate good work. Instead, it is time that you look at your management as 'leading other leaders to run a successful company'.

An employee cannot be a leader without any room to grow and make changes. That is one of the prerequisites for leadership, so make sure to afford some measure of decision-making authority to people you have chosen. As an experiment, some companies may doll out some degree of authority to everyone in the company to determine who is most likely to become a leader.

It is best to start small. Allow employees to create their work schedules, take vote in what products will be sold next, etc. If you already have someone in mind, give them more specific leadership tasks, preferably the tricky ones like hiring and firing. When the employee truly steps up, you will know who your leader is.

 

5. Create Clear Roles

Creating roles for your employees is essential if you want them to step into the position of leaders. When an employee does not know what you expect of them, they are very unlikely to take the initiative.

Therefore, your final step as a leader is to let your employee know you ultimately want them to become a leader too. Set this expectation with them and their boss so that together, they can take the steps necessary to develop and mentor this growth.

If you do not have a future leader in mind, create the same environment for all employees. Most employers do exactly this – leave room open for people to show their abilities by letting them know they have the room to do so.

These are all proven strategies for creating leadership in the workplace. Which one will you choose?

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About the Author: Brandon Stanley is a professional independent journalist.. He is also interested in writing articles concerning motivation and training personal. Apart from that, Brandon loves travelling and playing the piano. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter

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