On review of your financials, you may find that your company could be doing better. You know that you have a solid staff and that you're on the right path for getting the word out about what your firm can provide, but you're noticing that there's friction among employees.
Maybe they're disconnected from the company culture or are pushing back when presented with new projects or procedures. Or maybe they're working hard, but they're just not doing the work their leaders expect of them.
One of the steps a company can take to fix these kinds of problems is to re-examine how company leaders handle their duties while looking for regular sources of friction. Below, members of Forbes Coaches Council suggest how firms can identify what their biggest gap in leadership is.
Forbes Coaches Council members share their top tips for identifying the missteps among your leadership and how to correct them.
1. Have Leaders Rank Competencies
Identify gaps in leadership by having each leader take an assessment that reveals what his or her competencies are in hierarchical order. Once everyone on the leadership team does this, you can see the strengths and blind spots, and quickly identify the biggest developmental gap. - Shawn Kent Hayashi, The Professional Development Group LLC
2. Ask Your Customers
Organizations exist to serve customers, and leadership exists to serve the organization. Determining what gaps exist in your customers' engagement is key to the direction of your leadership development strategy. Ask your customers on the spot via focus groups and surveys. Find out why they are (or are not) repeat customers. Use this data to determine your greatest leadership development gap. - Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC
3. Solidify Trust
A gap in leadership suggests underperformance on critical outcomes. The most critical being employee trust in leadership. When employee trust in leadership declines, a vicious chain reaction ensues: Employee engagement with work and the workplace drops, stress increases, joy from coming to work evaporates, and employees begin perceiving the workplace as soulless. - Gaurav Bhalla, Knowledge Kinetics
4. Ask Your Employees
Ask the people! Organizational engagement surveys and other types of surveys are great ways to garner feedback on leadership alignment and gaps. Employees can clearly tell you what is lacking in the organization's leadership along with relevant examples. You can align your leadership style to the culture and needs of the employees. Factual data is more relevant than a theoretical leadership style. - Gia Ganesh, Gia Ganesh Coaching
5. Interview Former Staff
Attrition is normal, however, turnover rates can fluctuate based on a number of factors that point to where your biggest gap in leadership may be. Conduct exit interviews with anyone who has left the company in recent months and ask them what they would identify as the biggest gap in leadership. They have nothing to lose by telling the truth, as they have already left the company. - Suzi Pomerantz, Innovative Leadership International LLC
6. Improve Communication
Everything from recruitment, performance and retention to succession planning relies on people being open and a presence of trust. The biggest gap in leadership occurs when leaders lack self-awareness and hence a lack awareness about what others who work with them need as well. A culture of transparency and sharing information helps eliminate gaps as people spot and address gaps together. - Magdalena Bak-Maier, Make Time Count Ltd.
7. Study The Bottom Line
The bottom line is impacted by leadership, each line item offering clues to the gap in leadership. Cost of turnover, unfulfilled requisitions and low productivity reflect a need for improved leadership in management. Loss of opportunity reflects resistance to change or a lack of innovation and risk-taking. Loss of clients suggests a gap in values, customer service or process accountability. - Debora McLaughlin, The Renegade Leader Coaching & Consulting Group
8. Reach Out To The Company's 'Silent Leaders'
To discover your organization's leadership gaps, identify and reach out to your organization's "silent leaders." These are the individuals who have garnered the respect of colleagues regardless of job title. They are the leaders many gravitate towards for mentoring, training and honest conversations. Leverage the knowledge of silent leaders to uncover to garner insights into the real issues. - Lizabeth Czepiel, Lizabeth Czepiel, LLC
9. Check Sites Like Glassdoor.com For Reoccurring Issues
Your employees — both current and former — are the best source of information. However, since they might be reluctant to voice their concerns in person fearing repercussions, check sites like Glassdoor.com and relevant forums or message boards for honest, anonymous opinions about your company and its leadership. Recurring themes will most likely reveal the gaps that need to be addressed. - Arno Markus, ResumeBuilds
