Calling All Leaders, You Are Wanted!

As far as companies are concerned, leadership is a highly sought after quality. Not only is it needed in management levels but it is also needed in every level at a company. Leaders push their company forward and build employee morale in their company. It is up to the leaders to get their employees engaged in their work and motivated to work on and complete projects not just because it fits their job description but also because they want to finish it. When a company falls on hard times, it is also up to the leaders to reinvigorate employees and get them to refocus on the company’s core values and push through those trying times. A leader is not just anyone in a company, they the driving force for success. In any industry strong leaders are essential but there seems to be a shortage of them, at least that is what Deloitte University found in their 2014 Global Trends Survey.

According to the 2014 Global Trends Survey, companies are feeling a severe deficit in having leaders at every level. Out of the companies who participated in the survey, 86% of them said that leadership was a high priority issue but only 13% of those companies implement leadership programs to encourage leadership growth in all levels in their own company. Why is there such a disparity when companies recognize the importance of leaders? Part of the problem results in the sudden demand in leaders in every position. As recently argued by Lydia Dishman of Fast Company, leadership roles used to be singularly designated for upper management, but increasingly there has been a shift due to the globalization of companies and brands to having teams of leaders. Now companies are looking for leaders to fill in their ranks at every level in order to meet the needs of expanding their brands and moving into the future successfully.

Companies can fill this deficit by implementing programs in house that teach leadership qualities. By promoting leadership growth from within, companies can begin to fill the deficit. Looking within will allow employees to grow with their company. Employees will see promotion opportunities and take advantage of leadership programs in order to gain the skill set necessary to be promoted. Having pathways created to leadership will also increase employee morale because they will be able to both visualize their future with their company and see how to get to that future. Leadership programs will help solve the shortage and strengthen a company from the strong morale that gets created from employees who are vested in their company.

It is now more important then ever for companies hiring to be looking at their applicants with special scrutiny. Do these applicants already show leadership qualities? Finding future employees that already show leadership qualities will make transitioning them into leadership roles later easier. Any leadership program will just polish and grow any skills already existing. If potential new employees have too fresh of a job history where they may have leadership experience, showing an aptitude for innovation, change, and adaptability will also be beneficial. Those skills will help in a leadership journey. It is up to each company to find individuals who have skills that will allow them to flourish in leadership roles as globalization continues.