Most leaders can tell you their DISC type, their Myers Briggs Indicator and can recite the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They have “Discovered their Strengths”, have “360 Feedback” plans and have attended multiple seminars on how to facilitate an inclusive work environment. It’s all good stuff, and it’s all valuable, but unfortunately it’s not enough. Despite the millions of dollars that are poured into leadership development, studies and surveys continue to show that nearly 70% of initiatives fail. Why is that? And what can be done to help leaders deliver better results?
The truth be told, you wouldn’t let a surgeon operate on you without a scalpel or a plumber fix your faucet without a wrench would you? Of course not. Getting the job done right requires skills AND tools. Leadership is no different. Unfortunately traditional leadership development programs have predominately focused on skills and have short-changed leaders by not providing them with the tools they need to harness the power of their team to deliver results. And while most leaders can tell you their DISC type, few know how to build a Line-of-Site to align their organization around goals.
Leadership Tools provide leaders with proven methods and techniques that empower their workforce to get things done. For example, by using the Brainstorming tool, a leader can solicit input from their team to help identify problems, find potential solutions and generate innovative ideas. They can use Process Maps to standardize work processes, improve workflow and enhance ownership. And they can use a Decision Matrix to obtain team input for making objective decisions based on “What’s Important”.
These are only a few of the ordinary tools that when judiciously applied can empower leaders to engage their workforce to deliver extraordinary results. Leaders who embrace these types of tools tend to make better decisions, are able to foster a more inclusive work environment and are better equipped to meet their goals.
The best thing about most Leadership Tools is that each of them can be learned in a few hours and can be immediately applied to deliver better outcomes. It takes a little practice to build the skills to know when and how to apply the tools but once this is mastered, marvelous things will happen.
Visit the Everyday Excellence Leadership Toolbox to check out additional tools that can help leaders deliver extraordinary results.