Adults don’t believe Santa will magically bring them presents, and yet most corporate leaders live in a fantasy world in which their middle-managers magically learn to lead without any meaningful training and support.
If that surprises you, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, although I suspect many of you knew that already. Most grade school kids learn, or at least have a strong sense that there is no Santa Claus, but they’re still happy to play along and see the mall Santa. Let’s face it, it’s fun (said the Jewish kid who himself liked seeing Santa when he was younger). Fortunately, for the fictional Santa, there’s a plan B, also known as parents, who ensure that the parabolic promise of presents for good children gets fulfilled. Even without a real Santa, the delivery of presents is very real.
Companies, unfortunately, still believe in the leadership fairy. For those not familiar with this enchanted educator, the leadership fairy is the one who visits the homes of employees when they sleep and teaches them how to be great leaders. Under his tutelage the employees grow and become amazing leaders, driving corporate profits to new heights. And not just any leaders mind you, but leaders who espouse the particular leadership tenets of their employers.
I must remind you again, because I know the fantasy has such a strong pull, that the leadership fair does not actually exist. I have to emphasize this point because, sadly, many companies do seem to believe otherwise.
How many companies talk about wanting stronger leaders? (A reminder: a leader isn’t someone for a certain title, but one who leads, regardless of role, so that it can and does include individual contributors and lower-level managers.) Now given all the talk and desire, how much effort do they put into such training? People don’t lose weight by having a weight-loss fairy come each night and fly your pounds away, but rather by putting in the work. Even those looking for the quick fix of GLP-1 injections know it requires regular upkeep, not one and done. Those wanting to learn a new language need to learn and practice regularly. What steps have these leadership-longing firms actually taken? Does the level of effort come anywhere close to the desired outcome?
If a company thinks they can sell an item for $100 and needs a margin of at least 10% they’ll spend up to $90 to make it. They understand this math very well. How much impact will better leadership have in the company? Even if it’s not quite as quantifiable they must have some sense. After subtracting out any margin or overhead, the result should provide the level of a cost a company is willing to bear. What you’ll find is there is a large disconnect between what they should be investing and what they actually are.
Sadly, the legend of the leadership fairy continues to delay such investments. After all, why put in the time any money when the leadership fairy will do it for you. The bad news is there is no such fairy, but the good news is the advice of another famous fairy, or rather a Good Witch, does hold. You’ve always had the power to improve leadership at your company. If you want better leaders you don’t need to look any further than your office, because that’s where you can make it happen. Whether you have your L&D team lead it or bring in outside trainers, you can make that leadership development happen; just close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and think to yourself, “There’s no leadership fairy, but we can develop our leaders ourselves.” (And you don’t have the resources in house or money for outsiders, you can stand up your own in-house training program at zero cost by downloading The Career Toolkit Development Program. Not only is it free, but the copyright is open so you can put your name on it and take credit for it. I don’t even collect your email since I’m not trying to sell you anything. Just download and implement.)
While there may not be a leadership fairy to come to your employees homes each night the truth is, “you’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” True leaders don’t wait and hope for change, they make it happen. The first step in creating leaders in your organization is to be one yourself and get that training program started. But if it’s hard to totally give up the fantasy, just let me know, I’ll try to drop by your home one night and take a bite out of some cookies and the next morning, maybe you’ll even find a copy of The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You under your laptop.
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