Many leaders know what they need to do, just have trouble getting there

It should go without saying that developing effective leadership is not only key to running a profitable business, but also to creating innovative and meaningful products and services. Most company heads and upper management would say they do an excellent job at leading their businesses in ways that foster the development of new and innovative products and services, but sometimes their actual employees say otherwise.

DDI, a talent management company, recently conducted a survey that highlights the disparity between what leaders think and the perceptions of workers. Business leaders and employees agreed that inspiring curiosity, challenging current perspectives, giving workers a sense of freedom and driving discipline were among the key parameters for being an effective manager.

However, very few leaders actually lived up to these expectations. For example, only 29 percent of respondents said their managers actually challenged their perspectives. This indicates that while management know which qualities and personality traits make for a successful leader, they haven't always received the proper training to bring these skills out. In short, company heads need to be more enthusiastic in encouraging employees to develop and discuss unique ideas.

“Our results show that most leaders feel they excel at the behaviors that lead to higher levels of innovation. But, employees do not see their leaders the way leaders see themselves,” said Smita Affinwalla, head of consulting at DDI.

Developing leaders

DDI's survey shows that while many companies believe they are doing an effective job of developing their workers into successful leaders, their co-workers think otherwise. So how do companies make sure they are training their key employees to be the leaders that workers expect them to be?

Consulting a third-party organization that specializes in developing leaders – such as Enna – can help set companies' management training programs on the right path. Enna's leadership development services can give organizations a competitive edge by training management in a thoughtful, non-judgmental environment. Enna's training program lays out new ways for business owners to tackle a variety of complex challenges and solve a number of short- and long-term issues.

Enna offers an entire suite of leadership development opportunities, ranging from mentoring opportunities with successful managers to Lean study missions in Japan.