How Newly Promoted Leaders Can Use Their Challenges to Strenghten Your Company
September 2007
Building Unity, Paul Werder 's forthcoming book is at the printers! This work captures the essence of LionHeart's unique methodology for rising above our egos and working together with harmony and productivity beyond the norm. He uses personal examples and case studies to illustrate how we can open our hearts to spiritual wisdom to resolve our everyday challenges. Order your copy now and it will be shipped in late October. http://www.lionhrt.com/products.htm
How Newly Promoted Leaders Can Use Their Challenges to Strengthen Your Company
It’s the summer of 1941 and you are the captain of a merchant ship taking much needed supplies to help people impacted by the Second World War. Suddenly, you hear an explosion and feel a shudder run through the bridge of the ship. The deck begins to tilt as you realize that you have been torpedoed and are going to sink. You sound the alarm to abandon ship. You have the radio operator issue an SOS. You only have minutes before your ship is about to go under. If you save your crew you will be forever gratified and more successful with your next ship. For some of them, this is their first journey. You see the fear in their eyes. You tell them to hang on, help is on the way. Some of them are working too hard at treading water. It tears you up to see the newer sailors overwhelmed by their fear. Some of them are unable to last long enough to be rescued. Eventually you are picked up by a ship coming to the rescue.
As the captain of your business, you have new leaders that are taking responsibility for projects that will help the company grow and thrive. It bothers you when inexperienced leaders, who are technically competent, are unable to resolve problems that drive up costs or lead to project delays. You know people need to grow through adversity but you are concerned about the overall cost to the company. You also see that long-term unresolved problems take a toll on the team’s confidence, morale, and productivity. Without your help some of them will not make it.
In 1941, Kurt Hahn, the founder of the Outward Bound outdoor education school, saw a similar problem in young sailors that were dying at a much higher rate than their more experienced ship-mates. He founded a school to train these young sailors to develop the fortitude to survive through difficult experiences like being torpedoed. He wanted to provide them the skills they needed to overcome their fear and effectively deal with challenging situations.
Some of your leaders are like the inexperienced sailors in 1941. They need training and guidance to overcome challenges in their projects that they have never faced before. If they are given responsibilities they are not prepared for, they will do their best to learn it on their own. Unfortunately, many of these leaders will waste precious time, energy, and the morale of their teams getting up to speed in their leadership. Simple mistakes due to inexperience will cost thousands of dollars in productivity and create huge project delays. Where can your people get the skills that they need to deal with their potentially expensive project-crippling challenges?
The LionHeart Leadership Program came into existence in 1988. It gives people the skills they need to overcome the adversity that threatens to derail their projects. Leaders must develop the fortitude or inner wisdom to handle their most difficult challenges like resolving conflict between team members and getting people focused on the core issue of a problem.
Throughout the course of a year, participants get confidential guidance to work quickly through their live challenges. Other participants provide insights and feedback to help resolve their project problems. Participants see immediate results when they implement the new tools and capabilities they learn throughout the leadership program. For more detailed information about our next program beginning October 18 and 19, please click on: http://lionhrt.com/programs/leadershipprogram.htm.
There is a huge difference in the growth and success of your company when your leaders are able to handle difficult project challenges without draining precious time, money, and resources. In fact, they are better equipped to overcome the adversities that actually make your company stronger.
LionHeart Consulting is the author of The Leadership Imperative: Learn how the 5 Principles of Business Success can help you love your work again. To get your copy, just click here.