A 360 Degree View of Leadership

Experts show that investing in employee potential at all levels pays dividends for your organization

The potential to cultivate leadership skills in employees is proportional to the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to become a leader according to a panel of experts who spoke to attendees at a recent Enterprise Minnesota Business Event held at the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis.
 
"Leadership is about understanding employees' needs, communicating with them clearly, and empowering them with the tools to manage, supervise, and lead. This topic is never more important than during difficult economic times," said Enterprise Minnesota President Bob Kill.
 
"Every organization wants to foster leadership. These are the people in each company who see opportunities to invest in themselves, in their organization, and their coworkers around them," Kill said. "They do it now so that it all pays off when the economy turns around."
 
Michelle Bonahoom, President of Vision One Coaching, said that each employee's need and motivation is crucial to putting them in a position to succeed. "The difference between leadership and management is in personal communication and in the other processing activities. A leader understands others needs, helps them build on strengths, and subsequently thrive."
 
Bill Doty, President and CEO of North Anoka Control Systems in Ham Lake told the audience that the easiest way to focus on being a leader is to focus on the actions of oneself.
 
"I call it servant leadership," Doty said. "It's not about me, it's about them. It's not about 'what's in it for me?' rather as in 'what can I do for them?'"
 
Doty's focus is on helping others lead by putting them in a position to succeed. The focus empowers employees to make decisions that benefit the organization. "Everybody can lead, we just need to empower them to do it," Doty said. "Just do the things to help them be successful."
 
Jan Hepola, one of Enterprise Minnesota's 24 Business Specialists works with companies across the state to train managers and supervisors to develop employees that work directly for them. "Oftentimes in companies, employees are given tools and skills to run machines, but when promoted to a manager or supervisor they're not given the tools and skills to lead," Hepola said.
 
Most supervisors came up through the ranks before attaining a higher role. Their boss recognized their hard work and promoted them, yet without giving them further instruction. "Many of them don't know how to say, 'I'm not sure how to do this,'" said Hepola.
 
Three panelists representing Gauthier Industries, Engineered Products Company, and All Flex Acquisitions all agreed that the value of training employees has raised performance inside their respective organizations. Each used varying methods including Training Within Industry or Peer Councils.
 
Ultimately, leadership comes back to the top according to Gauthier Industries President Mike Jensen.
 
"You have to lead during good times, and you have to lead during bad times," Jensen said. "This is a time where we test our skills at communicating from the top down. Leadership is tested when times are tough; you must show whether you are able to keep morale up, to be productive, and have optimism."
 
Enterprise Minnesota will continue this important topic at its February 25 Business Event, A 360 Degree Look at Leadership: What Leaders Are Looking For From Employees to be held at Unisys in Roseville.
 
For more information on Enterprise Minnesota Business Events, TWI, and Peer Councils, visit www.enterpriseminnesota.org.