Fostering Leaders of Tomorrow Through Education

A large number of major worldwide companies have a major issue to face – how to close their current leadership skill gaps. These companies have spent billions of dollars on leadership programs aimed at assessing this situation. As companies are now treating professional development as an important component of their business strategy, companies allocating more and more financial resources towards leadership development initiatives.

The Importance of Leadership Skills

An important determinant of an organization’s success is leadership quality, which has led to companies making large investments in this area. With good leaders at the helm, an organization can achieve better overall organizational performance. This includes improvement in product quality, financial gains, organizational productivity and most importantly, higher levels of customer satisfaction. With effective leadership, companies can also improve on their employee’s retention, performance, levels of engagement and morale.

Thus, it is critical for any leadership program to select candidates with high potentials who aren’t just individual contributors but also have the ability o motivate others and get the job done. It is very important for such programs to narrow the gap between traditional leadership attributes with new competencies that create organizational resilience and agility. Versatile and young leaders can be developed by using mentoring programs that consist of new roles, projects, challenges and cross-functionality.

How Companies Can Develop Leaders of Tomorrow – 5 Factors

• Strategic acting and thinking

The most effective leaders have strategic thinking in their arsenal as their organizations must remain responsive to change in today’s competitive environment. Strategic thinkers embark on a long-range approach to solve problems and make decisions involving objective analysis, thinking ahead and planning.

• Developing a team

The collective development of team members is equally important as a leader’s own development. The most successful managers of today prioritise developing partnerships with employees. By working together with the team to develop and achieve goals, and allow them to take more independent approaches, the leaders of tomorrow can create a cohesive and productive unit. Retaining employees is also more important than ever as job-hopping trends continue to increase all over the world. The best leaders meet with their tea members on a quarterly or bi-monthly basis to discuss their interests, ambitions, and goals. They then work together to discuss a plan with resources to achieve that. This allows them to develop a more inclusive, efficient and satisfied workforce for any organization.

• Individual self-development

There’s no denying that businesses today operate in a highly competitive and fast-paced market environment.  It is very important for the leaders, especially younger ones to focus on themselves for at least half an hour per week. They can do this via online videos or short, online training to pick up skills such as working with difficult people, having a difficult conversation, or motivating someone who’s difficult to motivate.

• Fostering innovation

Innovation is an organizational priority no matter what industry a company operates in. As human beings are creatures of habit, leaders can get easily stuck in a rut while performing their daily responsibilities. Innovation is thus the tool that young leaders can use to change things up, leading to greater ideas and better methods. It also rests on the shoulders of the leaders to ensure everyone under them is feeling psychologically safe enough to try something new, see how it goes, and even fail. To be a good leader, one has to be a good learner and the best ones constantly learn and try to fill the gaps and develop the skills most important for them and their company.

• Civic-mindedness and Ethical Practice

Leaders are responsible for setting the standard for teams based on their values as the things leaders talk about, do or allow becomes part of the entire team’s work culture. It stands to reason that if a leader is talking about ethics and doing something right, the team behind him/her will also pick it up. In other words, what leaders value get valued by their entire team. Leaders should learn and periodically reference the ethics and civic-mindedness as laid down through the various directives, written policies provided by the top management. Leaders often make the mistake of only seeking out these policies in times of crisis. They should instead, try to familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures before any tough predicament occurs. Thus, new leaders should always have ethics in the front of their minds to quickly and effectively deal with problems that come up suddenly.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, one doesn’t need to be in a C-level role to be considered a leader. Almost every level of business requires and values strong leaders to inspire, influence and engage their stakeholders and colleagues. As businesses are turning more customer-centric, young leaders are able to leverage the creativity, innovation, and empathy of the workforce to better connect with clients and customers.

About Giti Tire

Singapore-based Giti Tire Group originated from a tire business back in 1951. The company is the worldwide manufacturer and producer of a broad range of tire products. It works with an assortment of motorsports teams, tire dealers, major original equipment vehicle manufacturers, auto-service outlets and consumers in more than 130 countries worldwide. The company has eight production centres across three countries including a newly opened tire factory in South Carolina, USA.

Giti Tire takes part in numerous educational activities ranging from young children to graduate students at the world’s top leading universities. Giti actively involves participants to develop their interests and grow as successfully as they can. Regardless of economic backgrounds, Giti drives their talents and hobbies through financial support and partnerships.