One of the best ways to ensure your company is always in good hands—whether you are at the helm or not—is to make sure your team is made up of great leaders. And while careful hiring can deliver a similar result, another and perhaps more effective strategy for achieving this is to create those leaders through your company culture and values.
Whether it’s by giving employees more autonomy or encouraging curiosity, there are a multitude of ways you can ensure your company culture breeds successful leaders. To share a few of their favorites, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council list their recommended methods for building leaders within your company and why this is important for the long-term retention of your employees and overall growth of your business.
Young Entrepreneur Council members share tips for developing your employees into leaders.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Value The Opinions Of Everyone Equally
We have a saying at my company: “Leave your title at the door.” In meetings, this means we equally value the opinion of an intern and the CEO. We encourage each team member to share ideas because everyone has a unique perspective. This enforces ownership of ideas and improves comfort with contributing to the business. – Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving
2. Cultivate A Culture Of Curiosity
Encourage team members to research new initiatives and explore different ideas. Then, help in implementing them. This empowers your team to make meaningful contributions while feeling validated and heard. You’ll find that more leaders thrive in this sort of environment. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep Mattress
3. Give Employees Autonomy
The best way to breed successful leaders is to give people the opportunity to lead! Give employees complete control over the work they’re responsible for and avoid micromanaging so they can develop the skills needed to become great leaders—skills like time management, critical thinking and communication. A sense of autonomy is great for improving employee satisfaction, which helps to improve retention. – Diana Goodwin, MarketBox
4. Lead With Empathy And A Willingness To Learn
One way to ensure a culture breeds successful leaders is to lead with empathy and to always be learning. There’s not one absolute truth; every collaborator at your company has their own point of view, and their reality is shaped by their experiences and their values. So when you as a leader take the time to listen and learn, you become a better leader and motivate others to emulate your behavior. – Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
5. Give Them Opportunities To Grow
Your company can create successful leaders by providing opportunities for employees to learn and grow. These could be in the form of training programs, mentorship programs or even just giving employees the opportunity to lead projects. By providing these opportunities, you’re showing your employees that you value their development and growth. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
6. Encourage Them To Get Involved And Speak Up
We help form leaders at our company by encouraging every team member to get involved in the design, marketing and sales process of our products. I believe most people have valuable input, but few ever speak. When we encourage everyone to speak up, we give those who would remain silent a chance to make their voice heard and find the confidence they need to pursue a leadership role. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC
7. Ensure They Feel Respected
Your company culture has a big impact on your success. Employees who feel as though they are valued and respected not only produce higher quality work, but they also stay with your company longer. This helps the company and helps keep the culture alive for future leaders to potentially take the reins. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
8. Emphasize Empowerment
In a world where social media rules, we hear a lot about engagement. If you want to create a culture that breeds successful leaders, however, you need to emphasize empowerment. Empowering them to make a real difference is what creates a strong leader. Give them a chance to have a real impact, provide as much responsibility as they can handle and place them in an environment that challenges them. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
9. Reinforce Your Company Values
It’s important to have companywide tenets or values; these are the cornerstone of your company culture. These tenets should be brought up repeatedly and regularly highlighted as part of any decision-making process. If you make them easy to understand and endow your team members with important traits or ways of thinking, your team is much more likely to be successful. – Andy Karuza, NachoNacho