• Does your organization have a “team player” attitude?
• Why is teamwork important?
• Are the benefits of teamwork clear?

Leaders who recognize the importance of teamwork create an environment that allows their team to feel that they can be a part of something greater.

This requires that the leader establish common values that encourage individuals to sacrifice personal goals for the good of the team.

“The most difficult thing for individuals to do when they are part of a team is to sacrifice. Without sacrifice, you’ll never know your team’s potential, or your own.”
–Pat Riley

Being Part of Something Greater

Team players want to share their successes with each other because they would rather be part of a championship team than the most valuable player who walks away without the coveted championship award.

History is full of examples of great players on good teams, but fewer instances of championship teams that figured out how to enjoy the benefits of teamwork.

The following story shows how one famous basketball player had both, but felt a greater desire to be a team player and part of a winning team.

A “Magic” Story…

… taken from The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players, by Pat Riley (1993).

As a youth, Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a very gifted basketball player. Time after time, his team won championships, but he felt something was missing and he developed an overriding need to share his successes with others.

During his brief college career, “Magic” led his Michigan State Spartans to the NCAA title before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers. In his first year in the NBA, he was named Rookie of the Year and once again led a talented team to an NBA title.

After winning the title, Coach Pat Riley told “Magic” that he had never seen anyone like him in more than twenty years of playing and coaching basketball, that is, someone who combined great skills with a great attitude.

When Coach Riley asked how he came to be that way, “Magic” told him that even as his teams won one championship after another, he would look around to share his joy but his teammates did not feel the same; they just looked miserable.

“Magic” told him that he was always the biggest and the best and his coaches told him to shoot, but this made his teammates felt like nobodies; he did not want it to be that way.

Team Players Experience Greater Success

“Magic” recognized the human need to share success with one another outweighed any individual reward. The lessons he learned as a youth helped shape his attitude and made him an incredible team player.

As “Magic” grew with the L.A. Lakers, he became known for his unselfish play and making his teammates better.

As the team connected and started working together, they were able to enjoy the benefits of teamwork, which included winning five NBA Championship titles. The L.A. Lakers during the 1980s were truly part of something greater!

“My driving belief is this: great teamwork is the only way to reach our ultimate moments, to create breakthroughs that define our careers, to fulfill our lives with a sense of lasting significance”
– Pat Riley

Teamwork in the Workplace

Imagine capturing “Magic’s” team player attitude for your organization.

• Does your team have a team player that sets a positive example and brings out the best in everyone?
• Does your team work together unselfishly, helping each other to improve along the way?

As your team recognizes the benefits of teamwork, they will experience greater success!

About the Author

Tom Crea has been developing leaders for more than 25 years. If you would like to know more about a values-based approach to leading, building, and improving communication within your team, contact Tom at http://www.all-about-leadership.com/coaching-a-leader.html.

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

This phrase, widely used in American politics during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush, is making a comeback.

“The economy” has quickly become the catch-all answer for almost every difficult question that the corporate world is facing, according to a recent article in ERE.net.

When business is slow, the typical reaction is to apply the brakes on most processes. Spending is either necessary or unnecessary, and then prioritized. After every process seems contained and controlled, companies wait to see what the competition and everyone else is going to do.

It’s not that prioritizing doesn’t make perfect sense. The challenge is to make sure you set the right priorities. But once you do, the key is not to wait and see, but to take action.

While reactive companies only see threats and danger, forward-thinking companies perceive exciting challenges and opportunities. For them, insight and innovation usually win out during down economic and business cycles.

Companies developing their talent pipeline are gaining momentum and are poised to come out on top. Will you be ready?

Rather than sit by and wait for things to hit the fan, progressive businesses take advantage of demanding situations, gain momentum, and prepare for their breakthrough. They know that the marketplace is like a seesaw and when one side is going down, the other side is coming up. They also understand that the economy is not a cause, but rather an effect.

If companies keep this principle in mind, they just might find themselves in an ideal position to make significant gains. And for businesses and their hiring managers, this could also mean finding top-notch talent who may have otherwise been unavailable.

Here are five strong reasons why companies that want to come out on top will continue to develop their candidate pipeline.

1. Pipeline development is part of their growth strategy.

You don’t wait until it snows to gather firewood, and these companies don’t wait until they need a hire to start identifying candidates who are equipped to be a part of their company’s success.

2. They know that long-term hiring success requires a process.

It is a lot easier to keep a fire going than it is to start one, so these companies will start an ongoing dialogue with candidates with the intention of making an offer when the time is right.

3. A developed candidate pipeline removes major competition from the equation.

When the time to hire arrives, these companies either have their offer prepared or they are at the top of the candidate’s mind. This reduces the chances of a salary war.

4. Having qualified candidates on hand minimize delays in production.

Sometimes unforeseen events can cause the ball to be dropped. A developed and managed candidate pipeline allows these companies to rebound quickly and efficiently.

5. A company that is actively recruiting is considered a strong company.

By continuing to engage prospective candidates, these companies strengthen their own company brand among others in their industry and remain aware of other trends within their market segment.

Prepare your business for a talented future even as you take care of the hiring requirements of here and now. Building a successful team requires talent at multiple levels at multiple times including contingent labor.

You may not be hiring all the “A” performers today, you just need to know where they are–have the tools in place to “call them up” when the time comes–and have an employer brand that will attract them to their roles instead of those of the competition.

And while these five reasons may not cover everything, remember them the next time you hear “the economy” as the excuse for why people are not moving forward.

About the Author

Les Gore is founder and managing partner of Executive Search International, a Boston-based, nationally recognized search firm and an over 25-year veteran of the “recruiting wars.” http://www.execsearchintl.com

He also offers Job Search and Career Coaching for senior, executive level individuals who are looking for a new job, or want to be well-positioned in the event they are let go.

There is something very magical that we were all blessed with at birth…and that is the ability to envision something and turn it into a reality for our business which I like to call, ‘Vision Marketing’. If you can see yourself doing a certain something in your mind, you can make it happen. It’s totally within your reach.

Vision Marketing is nothing more that the act of creating A mental image in your mind that was produced by your imagination. In anything that you do in your life or in your business, you begin that process of planning and by having a vision first. It’s a tool that each and every one of us can utilize at any moment. We all have the ability to create a very clear future in our mind that can be applied in any area of your life and business which can be turned into a reality.

Any successful and forward thinking entrepreneur or business owner has a vision for their businesses, projects or teams. Vision Marketing provides a driving force to achieve a certain goal, one that is clear and specific.

If you lose sight of your vision, you will lose the fight. So, it’s important to stay focused. When you paint an inspiring picture in your head of what you can become or what you can achieve and if you have something that you believe in, work towards it, not against it. When you create this idea of Vision Marketing, you will naturally be driven to achieve it. It gives meaning to our mission as it provides a purpose in all we do.

In the long run, people hit only what they aim at. Aim requires focus, and lack of focus can lead to failure. So, it’s critical that we be clear and precise when we are planning our vision marketing strategies. And this gets to the core of why being focused is so critical to success.

When we are focused, it leads to the accomplishment of our visions. If you are steadily being interrupted while you are trying to be focused, then your visions will never manifest into reality. The key to keeping focused is establishing parameters and boundaries for your activities and staying disciplined.

So, here are 5 simple steps you can start doing right now to get you started with your Vision Marketing:

1. Create a very specific to do list each and every night before you go to bed with no more than 5 to 8 tasks that you need to accomplish in your business.
2. Set specific times that you will work on those tasks.
3. When it’s time to tackle those tasks, be sure to turn off your email, Skype or any chat application as well as your office phones and cell phones.
4. Work in laser focused blocks of 30, 45 or 60 minutes by using a timer.
5. Take 15 minute breaks between each focused vision marketing strategy until all of them are completed.

Staying focused is difficult and requires intense training and discipline. But, if you start practicing these 5 simple vision marketing techniques, I promise you that you will get more done in your life & business than you can ever imagine, which will ultimately move you towards your goals.

Create Abundance In Your Life & Business. FREE 7 Day Bootcamp will show you how: http://www.LisaTorresOnline.com

About the Author

To Learn More About The Author, Please Visit http://www.LisaTorresOnline.com

There is no doubt that one of the joys of owning a successful business is having something to pass on to your children that will hopefully provide them with the financial security you planned for it to.
The types of companies that have been passed through generations in the past have typically been hands-on businesses like wholesalers, distributors, retailers and those revolving around the trades.
As companies begin to shift in a more virtual direction, it’s time to get your children involved with your online venture and teach them the skills they will need to run their own home based business or take over yours one day.
You chose to work from home for a reason. Probably because it’s great to be your own boss, spend more time with your family and bring your entrepreneurial dreams to life, and all without taking your slippers off. It only makes sense that you wish the same things for your offspring. You can teach your children how to succeed in an international market and that’s no little task. They can get a head start by learning about the importance of entrepreneurship, networking, marketing and website development.
Even if your children decide working from home is not for them, they will always be able to pull themselves through financial hardships by utilizing the skill set you gave them and turning to the internet for additional income.
Experts agree that exposing kids to the nature of their family business around the age of seven or eight is the best way to teach them about the concept of work, business and earning money. Start by teaching them how the business works and give them small tasks like sending faxes and stuffing envelopes. Answer their questions and listen to their ideas. This should be a fun learning experience and in no way forced.
As your children get comfortable being around the business they may come up with some entrepreneurial ideas of their own. By supporting and encouraging their ventures, no matter how small, you are showing them that anything is possible and to keep an open mind.
If you continue to give your kids more and more responsibility with age and demonstrate trust in their decisions, the day will come when you can sit back and relax knowing that your son or daughter is taking care of business.

About the Author

Saul Marques is a business coach and mentor that assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple incomes streams. Saul and his team have assisted hundreds of people in generating profits that exceed $250K or more in their first year. For more information and to contact Saul visit http://www.HitTheMillions.com

IQ is your intelligence-your ability to capture information and store it in your brain and then extract it when needed. But all of us have run in to people that are highly intelligent but that lack common sense. So if you are looking for a great leader what are the essential ingredients that make a great leader? What makes one stand out? Why do some people do great at one level of a job but when you promote them they struggle?

In order to grow great leaders you need to understand the difference knowledge and critical thinking play in HOW a leader makes decisions. Knowledge is based on learning or experiences that you then anchor in your mind and can extract when you need to apply it. This is great and can really get you promoted in a company fast. The problem comes when you become faced with situations you have never experienced before. How do you make good decisions then? What do you base it on when you can’t anchor it to any experience you have ever had?

This is where in many companies things fall apart. All of a sudden Joe that was a great foreman is struggling as an Operations Manager. In unknown situations it becomes far more important that you make decisions based on Critical Thinking skills, not knowledge. Critical Thinking skills help you determine what the correct assumptions are, what the root of the problem is and creates a more strategical way of looking at things. Outcome Thinking is all about how you critical think about situations so you can be more strategic and transformational versus tactical and transactional. I find way too many leaders are tactical in how they approach problems or situations and they base the rational of their thinking on the knowledge they have today. This limits their ability to really LISTEN so they can uncover what is not being thought or talked about.

A tactical leader when asked to put together a presentation on an expansion will pull together the cost of the expansion, why we are doing the expansion and what are the steps for the expansion. A strategical leader will pull together a presentation that shares what problem we are trying to solve, how the expansion will help solve this problem, what are the pros and cons of the expansion (what is it NOT addressing), what the cost will be and how it will fit in to the overall company mission. A tactical leader will try to make the expansion fit the budget. A strategical leader will ask how the expansion will solve the problem and then what cost it needs to be to work long-term. A strategical leader is not afraid to say we are thinking too small. A tactical leader wants the steps to the thinking.

If your organization is weighted down with people delivering “book report” presentations, people looking for strategy to come from the senior management, people misexecuting on corporate initiatives (which means they didn’t understand the message at a strategic level) then you are most likely creating more tactical versus strategic leaders.

In today’s world where you need to move at a fast pace you need to have leaders that can be critical thinkers at multiple levels in your organization. Without that you will end up creating more and more “rules” for people to make decisions by rather than systems that allow people to achieve excellence as a base.

About the Author

When people want to know how to say the right thing at the right time, they call Anne Warfield. As the leading Outcome Strategist, Anne helps people negotiate, present, sell and lead by managing perceptions, since perceptions become reality. She does this by showing you how to speak so people WANT to listen to you. She is the “Tropicana Twist” of Communication!

Solve this riddle: What is it?

It will always be “the” topic for social events and holiday gatherings. Sometimes it is up and sometimes down. Sometimes all wish they were involved. Sometimes those same people are grateful they did not participate.

Sometimes, everyone you know is happy about their place in it all; sometimes those same friends are feeling as if the agony of their involvement will never end. Sometimes you feel like you missed the boat; sometimes you feel you are glad you never boarded the boat. Your grandmother did well in it, but these days, your friends and family have been losing money in it.

In just three years, it can produce millionaires or paupers, both of whom started with the same initial funds invested. And the clincher: No one, not even the people who run the industry, really know where it is all heading over the next three to six years. And a color change can alter its direction and stabilize millions invested in it.

What is it?

We are of course speaking of the real estate market. What a time the past three years were! Subprime mortgage markets are disintegrating because of those in the industry who were granting loans without discretion. All involved were pushing to close record numbers of transactions, feeling this was a gift after so much hard work in a normal market. Flooding the market at warp speed were masses of investors, many of whom would go to any lengths to buy a property, leaving analysts and economists baffled. Why is this? We’re all feeling this was too good to be true. Guess what? It was.

The color that can put it back on a forward course for all is the new arena of “green.”

That is because today’s consumers are smarter than ever before. They see utility bills rising to new highs with no end in sight. Homeowners want to define their carbon footprint, and leave more than just money as a legacy. Global climate issues are important to them. The new world of “green” offers new opportunity to the entrepreneur spirit.

In addition, the savvy buyer today is demanding their real estate investment also be an environmentally responsible investment. Concerns over indoor air quality are coming up more and more. Children are in schools with recycling programs, and bring these ideas home to their parents. Worries about escalating utility bills, and excitement about renewable energy, are becoming normal topics of discussion around the dinner table.

According to EnergyPulse.org, 78% of the consumers who bought a property last year say no one talked to them about energy efficiency. But whether one owns or wants to own, people are looking for ways to become more energy efficient. It should be real estate professionals who guide people to local resources, helping them navigate tax benefits and green mortgages, find energy auditors and renewable energy installers, and connect with contractors who care.

Everyone has different motivations for “going green.” Some feel we are funding our own terrorism by purchasing foreign oil. There are those who have a concern for utility bills that most feel could double in 20 years. Some want to use the clean natural resources that are so plentiful in their parts of the country. North Dakota and South Dakota have enough wind to power the electricity for the entire United States. Look at the solar advantages in Florida. Take note of the amount of rain Oregon gets every year. And how much parts of Georgia could use that rain.

Think green and join the new industrial revolution.

About the Author

Kerry Mitchell is the founder of Green Real Estate Education, which is on target to educate more than 10,000 real estate professionals in going green by 2011. Mitchell established the Green Leadership recognized certification programs that 6,000 have nationwide. She worked for 14 years as a licensed real estate broker in Maryland and Florida, where she now resides.

Once a year, over one hundred former employees of AT&T Canada Long Distance Services get together to celebrate a major accomplishment. Ten years ago, they brought the company back from the brink. How do you lead an organizational transformation that has such an impact that those involved are still celebrating it together ten years later? Bill Catucci, former CEO of AT&T Canada LDS reveals that it is a combination of actions and leadership.

When Catucci took over as CEO of Unitel, re-branded as AT&T Canada LDS, the company was losing one million dollars per day. Employee morale was low, its products were inferior to competitors, and top managers had all jumped ship. Catucci was the fifth CEO in five years to take on the challenge of bringing the second-largest telecommunications provider in Canada sustainable, profitable growth.

Three Key Drivers of Change

According to Catucci, while there were a number of activities involved in changing the organization, there were three key drivers of success: the strategy management system, strategy councils, and shared compensation.

The strategy management system, with the Balanced Scorecard as the foundation, was a set of increasingly specific instruments to drive action from the vision to the budget. The trilogy of vision, mission and values defined where the organization was going, what its purpose was, and what was important. The strategy defined at a high level what the company was going to do in order to provide sustained profitable growth, and achieve the vision. The business plan further detailed the steps necessary to implement the strategy, and the budget filled its financial role, aligned through the strategy all the way back to the vision. The strategy management system communicated direction at varying levels of detail, all aligned to the primary goal of sustained profitable growth.

Catucci quickly realized that the traditional hierarchy and silos that he had successfully navigated over the course of 30 years was not useful in running the company. Instead, he came up with the second key driver, a plan for better management. Setting up four strategy councils, he eliminated all other leadership team meetings — and excuses. To drive growth, he set up the Business Development Council; for productivity, the Business Process Council; for people, the Professional Development council; and for linking it all together, the Balanced Scorecard Council. Attendance was mandatory, and meetings started and ended on time. Since all other meetings were discontinued, even individual meetings with Catucci, all business was taken care of together in one of the councils.

The third key driver, shared compensation for executives, ensured that everyone on the leadership team was on the same page. Instead of receiving a bonus based on individual performance, the team was given a bonus out of the same pot based on overall company performance.

Deliberate Leadership

Beyond the three key drivers of the transformation, it is clear that there was more to the successful change effort than the mechanics of the key drivers. Effective leadership surely played a part. Within a short time of knowing Bill Catucci, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that he is a natural born leader. Articulate, intelligent and funny, he’s the picture of the charismatic leader. When accused of this, Catucci is quick to reply, “If I’m a natural born leader, then that was an awful waste of training.”

Catucci’s leadership training started at the age of 17, as part of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Learning leadership strategies from military science continued as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Korea. As he held jobs in operations and legal at AT&T in the U.S., he continually read books, attended leadership programs, and learned about successful leaders. Catucci says, “I had so many years of leadership training that if I didn’t become a leader, something was wrong with me.” Perhaps a more apt characterization would be that Bill Catucci became a leader ultimately because he wanted to be one.

Still, he had a few things to learn upon taking over the CEO role. At the top of the list was his personal time management. “It’s easy to think you’re spending time on important things when you’re not,” he warns. Catucci made the effort to be disciplined in his level of involvement in the operation. He struck a conscious balance between knowing what was going on without micro-managing.

As someone who believes that leadership is learned and not inherent, Bill Catucci has advice for how to become a transformational leader. The key to making organizational change happen, according to him, is being deliberate. “If it’s serious enough, make it serious,” he advises. For example, when he started the leadership councils, he made a point of being on time and staying until the end, not always an easy task for a busy CEO. While some members were tardy for the first couple of meetings, they quickly caught on that if he was there on time, they’d better be on time too.

Another important role for a leader is constant communication. “I considered myself to be the CEO: Chief Education Officer,” Catucci asserts. “You can’t assume people know everything.” It’s important for everyone to know the basics and to get people on the same page. The strategy management system helped — on one page, Catucci could explain an individual’s role in achieving the corporate goals.

The Results

In his three-year tenure as CEO, Bill Catucci led what has been considered one of the most successful turnarounds in Canadian business history. When AT&T Canada LDS was sold in 1999, its market value was four times what it had been in 1995 when Catucci took over the reins. Even more telling: employee morale moved from well below average to being in the Top 10% of North American companies according to Hay Associates.

Remarkably, Catucci moved on to prove that the results are repeatable. After leaving AT&T Canada LDS, he headed up global operations at Equifax and implemented the same three key drivers. From 2000 to 2002, shareholder value increased by $3.3 billion and Equifax had nine consecutive quarters of share price growth.

For Catucci, long-lasting satisfaction is from doing an important job and doing it well, and in sharing the success with the people who contributed to it. Clearly, as members of the AT&T Canada LDS class of 1999 demonstrate in their annual celebration, the success of the transformation fulfilled those criteria.

Additional Reading

“Bringing a Company Back to Life,” At Work, May/June 1999.

“AT&T Canada: A New Strategic Governance System Quadruples Market Value,” Balanced Scorecard Report, v2 #1.

“10 Lessons for Implementing the Balanced Scorecard,” Balanced Scorecard Report, v5 #1.

About the Author

Heather Stagl is founder of Enclaria LLC, where it is her mission to equip individuals to lead organizational change. She provides coaching and other resources for mid- to senior-level managers who have taken on the challenge of transforming their organization. Find templates, assessments, articles and more at http://www.enclaria.com.

What are the Qualities of a Great Businessperson? -Have you ever wondered about what makes a great businessman? There are some who make billions with their business strategies while the world is also abound in people who cannot succeed in business. What is it that makes some businessmen so special? The answer lies in the fact that those who succeed have a vision and the intelligence that gives them the edge over their competitors.

A good business leader is one who looks beyond the profit on loss on paper and delves into the factors that affect P&L in the business. There are many aspects of profit or loss that are not shown in the balance sheet. These factors need to be taken into account if one wants to have a clear idea about what is good for the business and what is not. The complex relationship between the factors that determine profit and loss and the impact that profit and loss has on the company is something that needs to be studied with a keen eye.

There are other qualities that a good business leader must possess. One such very important quality is communication skills. Business is a lot about networking. Knowing your customers, your target group, your peers and your competitors can give you valuable feedback about your own business. Those with high business acumen master the skills of maintaining relationships with everyone and slowly building contacts. When building a contacts base, there is great need for vision. The ideal business leader is one who knows how to communicate well with those who work for him or her as well. You need to motivate your workers and inspire them so that they give more than their 100%.

Three Steps to Improve your Business Acumen

* You need to have a detailed understanding of the way in which your business works. This understanding and perception will help you give important feedback about your business and make it flourish.

* This is the information age and as the name suggests, information is the key factor in this world. If you are armed with enough information, you have the edge over others.

* Make a list of your goals and work your way towards achieving them, one by one. Try to organize your goals. For example, you can have a set of HR goals, Business Goals and so on.

Studying the market is another key to achieving success in your business. Have a clear idea about the products and services that you are about to offer. Then, strategize according to the information about these products or services.

The Importance of Leading by Example

One thing about business is that if the leader is one who can set great examples, the workforce gains inspiration and starts producing great results. Herein lies the great importance of leadership.

With these important factors in mind, you can make your business even more successful. Keep these factors in mind and watch your business boom.

About the Author

Simon Johnnson is the director of content for Executive Gift Shoppe. They specialize in golf gifts and letter openers.

Perhaps the most important aspects of the learning process are the very basic intuition factors of inquiry. Well, I am sure you are probably saying by now; I know that; but, did you know there is actually an art to that whole concept of inquiry, examination, exploration, I think you might get what I mean. You see in the process of developing yourself one has to constantly be putting to question the goals of your vision. One needs to assess the objectives to your goals and review your expected outcomes to the actual output of your performance accomplishments. Further, the inquiry that takes place in the learning phases to establish a path for developing a hypothesis is quite different from the investigatory process involved with the self searching process; for example one is with the intent of a specific driven purpose on “buying my product or idea” while the other has an intent to formulate a theory for the purpose of identifying unresolved issues.

Now, many have asked me Dr. Baiz,: “I don’t know how to ask the right questions can you help me with that”, my first response, to individuals whom pose that question to me, is: for what purpose are you seeking to ask specific questions. To who and why are you asking those types of questions of a particular situation in the first place. Most all inquiries have an intent variable that is the core motivating factor behind the whole concept of the “gathering of information.” Additionally, keep in mind there are different styles in the talent of information gathering and inquiry; one is personal assessment information such as: How does that make you feel? How long have you felt like that? What do you think can be done about that? Who do you think can help you reach your goal? The other inquiry style is more of an aggregate historical background assessment such: How long has this been going on? When did you notice something was going wrong? What do you want to do about the situation? Do you have any recommendations for a plan of action? There are various styles of inquiry from a behavioral standpoint, as well, to stay astute about, for example one could be calm, mellow, friendly obtained information; while the other could be: a straight forward, cold, no nonsense approach like an abrupt FBI inquiry; where the office get shut down under lock-up and doing their job on an investigation.

So now let’s discuss issues that one might be working on in the process of self improvement, leadership development, business development, etc. has there been a method of self review in posing the right questions of oneself. Can you reach your goal within your vision? Is your goal reachable? Is it possible that you set your goal to high? What is the timeframe for your goal reaching endeavors? Who is going to be part of the team that will help you reach your goals?

A major mistake many commit, before embarking on an improvement plan or augmentation plan professionally is failing to ask on the pertinent questions of clarity. Many times individuals venture on to a professional venture without a clear understanding of their particular undertaking which could be a catastrophic experience down the road. One needs to conduct a feasibility review of the probabilities of a venture; there needs to be some form of a percentage estimate of your success rate. Many times individuals pursue a venture based on: gut feeling, talk, ego, and talk themselves into a position of no return. Understand your strong points and work on what you know are the factors that pose a challenge to you and let your vision be the beam for your drive.

About the Author

Do you want to discover the secret to explosive Personal and Leadership Development? Download my free guide here:Personal and Leadership Development. Dr. Richard C. Baiz is a College and Corporate Personal/Leadership Development Instructor and Coach who gets his clients top notch successful results fast.

Key ways for leaders to invest in their companies to ensure long-term sustainability have never been so sought after. The cost linked with recruitment have been targeted by many.

This new-found excitement for reducing overall costs to accelerate company effectiveness has meant a long, hard look at the expense connected with the recruitment of key personnel. And it should come as little surprise that interest in an effective and bespoke leadership development programme has increased rapidly since companies have turned on to internal investment once again.

Here are the three ways that a leadership development programme can reduce the costs of recruitment:

1. Develop leadership to recruit within – Even though companies will search high and low to identify the right executive to fill a top level position, there is always an underlying want to be able to promote within. And, employees who have been working at a company for a period of time will understand the culture of the organisation and will require little internal training to get up to speed. This means a vast reduction in costs, and not just in internal training.
Costs associated with advertising the role, as well as time taken to interview and select all contribute to a costly process. A leadership development programme that targets managers in the ‘developing’ stage of their career could save organisations time and money in the long-term. This also means that a company can recruit at the lower end of the company hierarchy, rather than at the expensive end.

2. Motivated staff remain loyal and committed – Any employee who feels that their employer is acting in a parental way, investing in their future by training and developing their skills, will be more motivated and committed. Retaining staff is key to keeping costs of recruitment low, and leadership development has been identified as a crucial way of keeping employees engaged and loyal to their employer.

3. No need to outsource – Many recruitment firms and headhunting agencies have proven their ability to source the right person for the right job, but it comes at a cost. For companies looking to avoid the hefty and luxurious costs of recruitment consultants, developing the talent that already exists within the organisation is the ideal option. This is a simple case of investing in those that have already proven their worth to the business, rather than paying for a search and selection team to identify someone unknown to the business.

It is important to note, that none of these recruitment savings would be possible without adequate investments into leadership development. Developing employees, managers and leaders is the only prudent and long-term option for businesses looking to break free from the costly recruitment programme. Read more about your bespoke leadership development programme here

About the Author

James Pentreath is the founder of Leadership Consulting Partners, and has an aim to build up a global community of strong leaders who are role models for the future generations. Within his leadership development programme James is reaching out to organisations looking to bolster their understanding of how effective leadership can realign it with corporate objectives, and also facilitators keen to offer their clients a new programme of leadership development.