At Norton Consulting, we have more than 35 years of professional experience working in companies with as few as 20 employees and as many as 150,000. Over those years we've worked with many types of leaders at all levels within these organizations. Through our work, what have we learned about leadership?
Having the title "leader" doesn't make you one; it merely affords you the opportunity to become one. All a title does is buy you enough time to either influence your employees or to lose their respect. It is foolish to believe you've suddenly become more competent because of a promotion. How you act as a leader determines whether your subordinates learn to respect you and become your followers.
Leadership is an acquired skill. Leadership is neither genetic nor discovered, it is developed over time. Leaders lean on their strengths and outsource their weaknesses. They know their strengths and face up to their weaknesses. Then, train their weaknesses away. Striving to become a "jack of all trades" is a recipe for mediocrity.
Leaders aren't complacent, they don't rest, celebrate, or reflect for too long on their success. Complacency attacks successful businesses and turns them into failures. In fact, if you are successful, you have a bulls-eye on your back. Leadership requires results. Ultimately, leaders are measured by their results, not their good intentions. They live the idea "You must prove yourself each day because in today’s fast paced, demanding organizations, tenure and experience are no substitute for results.
As a leader, it's not enough to work hard on your job; you must work hard on yourself. In addition, leaders must help their people grow. The truest way to measure a person’s leadership is by whether he improves the people on his team. His job is to make them smarter and better, but if he can't develop and grow his employees, he forfeits the right to lead them.
Our assessments and curriculum have been assembled to assist you in understanding the developmental needs and opportunities available to you and your organization. Let us help you assess where your development needs exist and help you fill those gaps with proven assessments and training solutions
