Leadership is often talked about as a noun – a position, a role, and a responsibility. Because of this, we know that once people have been promoted to leadership roles, they need new skills to be successful. But leadership isn’t only a noun, it is also a verb (those skills you think of are behaviors – actions – verbs). When people lead, others follow. And if people aren’t following, no one is leading. They follow those behaviors and actions far more than a title. This mental shift to leadership as a noun and a verb opens the door to the benefits of providing leadership skills to “non-leaders.” Here are eight reasons why.
We upskill effectively
The skills of top individual contributors are closer to leadership skills already. When we think about the skill sets solely attached to the job title, we create the list of “leadership skills.” But many of those leadership skills are really human skills:
- Communication
- giving and receiving feedback
- listening
- empathy
- trust-building
- problem solving and decision making
- collaboration
- goal setting and implementation
- (I could go on and so could you)
Don’t we want those skills for all our team members? Won’t people be more effective as individual contributors with more of those skills?
We create better leadership pipelines
When we expose people to these skills sooner, we will see who is drawn to them and who likes working in these areas. Without these insights and experiences, we are left to promote the best sales person to sales manager, the best Customer Service agent to supervisor, and the best forklift operator to shift leader. We know that doesn’t always work, but we keep doing it anyway. When we provide leadership skills for non-leaders, we help people identify aptitudes and interests that will help the organization and individuals make more informed promotion decisions.
We ease the transition to leadership
The toughest transition of our career is moving from individual contributor to front line leader. As the authors of From Bud to Boss, we have been helping people with this transition for nearly 15 years. That is why we know how hard it can be. As people know more about leadership skills and are given some of them sooner, they are better equipped, more confident, and ready to lead when their title changes. Yes, there will still be much to learn, but they will be far more prepared than most are today.
We enhance retention
Studies and surveys repeat the same message - people want more development in their roles. When they get that development, they feel more valued and are far more likely to have loyalty to their organization. We can invest in technical skills – and often that is needed. But what skills do people most want? The skills that help them make a bigger difference, be more versatile, and grow. In other words, leadership and interpersonal skills.
We build trust
When people are invested in, and given the chance to learn highly leveraged skills, they feel more valuable, valued, and trusted. Beyond the act of supporting development though, they then need opportunities to apply their newly acquired skills. The successful capitalization of those opportunities builds trust even more – in both directions.
We mirror the rest of the world better
As work becomes more project based, and new technologies ease our frontline workload, the skills that add the most value and help people contribute best are leadership skills. As we bring leadership skills to non-leaders, we boost overall performance and equip our organization to thrive in a changing world.
We change mindsets
As people build these skills, their view of the world changes. And those mindset changes have a positive impact on how your organization can function, flex, and change. In the end, this may be the most important reason of all to give leadership skills to non-leaders.
We get better results
This is the bottom line. Yes, providing more “traditional” leadership skills to people is helpful for them and provides meaning and life skills for them. And… when we invest in building the skills of our team members – not just the technical but the interpersonal skills – we equip people to collaborate better, make better decisions, and get better results. This is a great example of how one investment can create multiple streams of return.
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