One of the things that should be priority in an organization is leading the leaders. Identifying and leading other leaders is one of the best ways of securing the future of your organisation. For leaders and organisations to be successful they have to raise other leaders. Training leaders is one of the most important priorities for leader.
The security of the future of your organisation lies in ensuring that there is a very capable leadership that is trained today for the challenges tomorrow. One of the best ways of training leaders is to model.
If you’re the senior leader, chances are that leaders in your organisation are already looking at how you’re leading and taking notes. They’re watching your wins and losses, your demeanour in challenges, how you treat people, your comebacks after setbacks and how you move ahead after successes…
All eyes are especially on the senior leader. This is an inherent part of leadership. The way you do things in your organization probably has the attention of most of the people than any other individual.
You already have an audience. The challenge is in leading in a way that you’ll be proud to have as part of your legacy. For the organization or team you lead to live longer, and continue in its cause you have to invest in your leaders.
How you lead will speak louder than any other training program you could ever put in place. How you lead the leaders is what will tell, reinforce or destroy everything you teach in your development programs.
In some cases, development programs are overrated at the expense of the senior leader being the epitome of leadership. Perhaps you’ve been looking at the model… i.e. the model of your entire leadership development program and not looking at the model that they are more likely to follow after – you, and how you lead.
Leader, in the very sense, means “take your cue from me or how I do it”. You have a great responsibility… Giving a clear, tangible picture of what leadership looks like may just be the ingredient missing as you secure the future.
Lead the leaders how you want them to lead those they will lead after you. That is the best way to train leaders to lead.
Setting an example with your life is not a one-time event – Greg Darley