The Must-have Skills to Prioritize
Late last year a column in The Harvard Business Review asked: Start-ups - What skills should a founder prioritize?
What do you think?
If we look at your behaviors, the skills might be:
- Busyness
- Taking on too much
- Not developing staff systematically
- Not developing leaders
This is ugly. Let's stop there. What did HBR recommend?
Researchers surveyed 141 Harvard Business School alumni who had founded mostly venture capital-backed tech start-ups, plus 20 non-MBA founders.
The founders said you should be giving a "HIGH" or "VERY HIGH" priority to these four skills:
These four skills ranked higher than Selling, Marketing, Product Design, Strategy Formulation, Finance, and Engineering management.
You'll be quick to notice: 3 of them directly pertain to management, leadership, and company culture.
Develop Leadership Skills
Developing these skills is not an easy task. It takes work. But the benefits far outweigh the costs, because excelling in these four areas creates a ripple effect down the hierarchy of your workforce.
For example:
- Do you want employees to take more ownership for results? Then train your leaders so your employees have better role models.
- Do you want your employees to complete tasks on time, such as reports and time entries? Then train your leaders how to establish firm, yet respectful and encouraging boundaries.
- Do you want to increase the skills of your employees? Start by training your leaders.
This is not rocket science. A team is only as good as the leaders it follows.
Stop Begging for Improvement
So stop kidding yourself, and stop begging people for improvement. Instead, take the time to train your leaders.
You can train them yourself, or you can sign them up for our 6-month Certified LEADER program, which has been very successful.
““The Certified Leader course taught me to understand my team and how they work and communicate and how I can be the enabler towards a more productive and efficient work space by listening to my team, our clients and the future that we are all rushing into headlong. I feel more prepared for what is coming and how to handle crises with a level head and a path forward while also providing my team the tools they need to help us all to not only survive crises but create opportunities.””
Becoming an effective leader is not like turning on a light bulb - it does not happen instantly. This process takes time for you develop new habits.
The Certified LEADER program includes 6 months of training and coaching to help you develop new habits while you keep up with your workload.
One-on-One Sessions
Each class includes 12 one-on-one sessions with a Manage2Win consultant to focus on unique problems and skills.
Group Sessions
Each class includes 12 group training sessions covering a management-related topic followed by Q&A and discussion.
Assessment
Each participant receives a Manage2Win Talent Assessment, and an assessment of leadership strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to working on the four top skills listed in the HBR article above, each participant is asked to define clear, measurable goals based on their leadership strengths and weaknesses.
A kick-off call at the beginning of the program is specifically designed to align your work with your needs.
Participants who successfully complete the program are given a certification test at the end. Passing grades earn the use of the Certified Leader logo for use on business cards, your website, LinkedIn profile, etc.
Interested? Learn more by clicking here.
SPACE IS LIMITED. Our next class starts on July 9th, sign up today to reserve your seat! Please contact us if you have any questions.
