For any business to thrive, it needs a strong strategy and the ability to execute it effectively. However, many organisations struggle to bridge the gap between having a great plan and actually putting it into action. This is where leadership development becomes critical. It’s not enough to have capable leaders at the top; businesses need a golden thread of leadership woven throughout the organisation. This means investing in the development of leaders at all levels, from the C-suite to the factory floor.

The Problem of Accidental Managers

One of the biggest obstacles to successful strategy execution is the lack of leadership skills among those in management positions. A staggering 82% of individuals promoted into management roles in the UK receive no formal training on how to manage and lead. These “accidental managers,” as they’re often called, can create a culture of high employee turnover and increased retention costs. This lack of leadership can lead to bottlenecks, preventing even the most well-thought-out strategies from being translated into action and results.

Developing Leaders at All Levels: A Three-Step Approach

To address this issue, businesses need to adopt a more comprehensive approach to leadership development. Instead of focusing solely on senior executives, it’s crucial to develop leaders at every level. Defy Expectations, a leadership development company, uses a three-step learning suite to help businesses achieve this:

1. Assess Leadership Capabilities

The first step is to assess the leadership capabilities of individuals within the organisation. This involves using assessments that focus on competencies rather than personalities. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their leaders, businesses can identify areas where development is needed.

2. Fill Skill Gaps with Targeted Training and Coaching

Once the assessment is complete, the next step is to provide targeted training and coaching to fill the identified skill gaps. This can involve a mix of custom-built, on-demand learning and personalised coaching sessions tailored to the specific needs of each individual.

3. Apply New Skills to Real-World Challenges

Finally, it’s important to coach leaders on how to apply their newly acquired skills to real-world problems they face in their day-to-day work. This helps them solidify their learning and ensures they can effectively use their leadership capabilities to drive results.

The Six Essential Leadership Capabilities

Defy Expectations focuses on developing six essential leadership capabilities that are vital for both individual and organisational success:

• Transformational leadership: Inspiring and motivating teams to achieve common goals.
• A culture of openness: Fostering open communication, feedback, and collaboration.
• Maintaining a customer focus: Ensuring that all decisions and actions are aligned with customer needs and expectations.
• Risk management: Identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks.
• Optimising productivity: Enabling teams to work efficiently and effectively.
• Managing wellbeing: Creating a work environment that supports the physical and mental health of employees.

Optimising Productivity: The Right People in the Right Roles

One key area of leadership development is optimising productivity. This doesn’t mean pushing employees to work longer hours or squeezing more tasks into their day. Instead, it’s about real productivity, which involves:

• Having the right people in the right roles. When employees are in roles that align with their skills and interests, they’re more likely to be engaged and productive.
• Developing practical capabilities. Leaders need to ensure their teams have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform their jobs effectively.
• Providing support and resources. Leaders should create a supportive environment where employees feel empowered to do their best work.

The Core Principles of Effective Leadership Behaviour

Defy Expectations emphasises three core principles of leadership behaviour that are essential for creating a high-performance culture:

• Engagement: Ensuring that people at every level are motivated and understand their role in achieving business objectives. This requires clear communication, shared goals, and a sense of purpose.
• Enablement: Guaranteeing that leaders at all levels have the authority and resources they need to act decisively. This includes providing clear mandates, delegating effectively, and removing obstacles that hinder progress.
• Empowerment: Pushing decision-making down to the execution layer as much as possible. This involves setting clear boundaries, establishing expectations, and granting autonomy within those parameters.

Investing in Leadership: A Catalyst for Business Success

When businesses invest in the continuous development of their current and future leaders, they create a ripple effect throughout the organisation. This investment fosters a high-performance culture that:

• Identifies and positions talented leaders in the right roles.
• Builds an agile and decisive business.
• Exceeds customer and stakeholder expectations.

Key Points

• Effective leadership is crucial for turning strategy into action and achieving business success.
• Businesses need to move away from the “accidental manager” phenomenon and invest in developing leaders at all levels.
• Assessing leadership capabilities, providing targeted training and coaching, and applying new skills to real-world challenges are key steps in leadership development.
• Focusing on essential leadership capabilities like transformational leadership, a culture of openness, and optimising productivity will empower leaders to drive results.
• By embracing engagement, enablement, and empowerment, organisations can create a high-performance culture that positions them for sustainable success.

By investing in leadership development at all levels, businesses can bridge the gap between strategy and execution, fostering a culture of excellence and achieving remarkable results.