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Interviewer: How do you create a company, project, or agency of leaders?
Milan M: Improving organizational performance requires the resourcefulness and motivation of every employee. The best organizations accomplish this by transforming themselves into places where employees at every level take the initiative and act as though the business were their own. These leaders not only take initiative and demonstrate their creativity; they also produce immediate improvement in bottom-line performance.
Interviewer: Many say that they have tried empowerment but it failed them.
Milan M: Our consultants have observed that empowerment efforts fail because of ambivalence, a bureaucratic culture, conflict within the organization, and time constraints. Organizations also require practices and tools to release the power of employees and transform it into behaviors and actions.
Interviewer: How do you get started?
Milan M: Honing leadership takes more than promotion into a new job, naming someone in a succession plan, or a laying on of hands from executives. Developing leaders requires a willingness to spend at least a quarter of your time on the effort. Ask yourself these questions:
Interviewer: Shouldn't internal Training and Development and outside programs lead the way?
Milan M: The best leadership development efforts are headed by respected senior leaders of the agency, project, company, or geographic location. The internal Human Resources Development and outside programs support the effort and are not in charge.
Interviewer: Any last observations that you'd like to share with us?
Milan M: Leadership is about something. A developer of leaders must have a personal, learnable point of view on leadership, the future of the organization, and transformation that she/he is eager to share with participants. Do you as the leadership development mentor have a teachable/coachable point of view?
Leadership for Results, Business and Organizational Renewal, and Align Accelerate Transform are some examples of programs that enable leadership developers to create work settings in which organizations transfer real influence, decision making, and accountability. With these practices, employees at all levels learn, test, and display responsible leadership.