A critical ingredient in the recipe for a growing and prosperous business is attracting and developing the best possible talent in the marketplace. The talent pool has ebbed and flowed up and down for decades. In recent years, leaders have faced many challenges in acquiring talent to achieve their organization’s objectives. It has also been a challenge for the talent in the marketplace to be gainfully employed by an organization aligned with who they are as individuals. The desired balance between organizational focus and individual contribution will not be solved without both parties working together for a common benefit.
One item that needs leadership’s attention and individual acknowledgment is the aspect of self-confidence. As JKL Associates engages with various clients and associations, we see a broad array of talent in the marketplace. These talented individuals run the spectrum from senior leaders with many academic backgrounds to those who have started at entry-level roles and matured in the organization via the education of hard knocks.
A characteristic that separates and distinguishes better talent is those with a quality sense of self-confidence. Not the brash or cocky type but those open to accepting responsibility and accountability, knowing they just might not be fully ready for the demands of the assignment but are willing to grow and learn from the experience.
As leaders, we need to invest in and develop our talent. Not by overloading them with more tasks or busy work but by defining the specific contribution they are to deliver. A very clear set of expectations needs to accompany this development effort. Even if part of their development is to craft an approach or strategy, the leader still needs to have expectation boundaries for that specific situation. If it is too broad or poorly defined, when the person provides their offering, and leadership frowns upon it, this not only stifles their capabilities, but their self-confidence takes a pretty hard hit. If this development approach takes place time after time, leadership is failing to develop talent and limit any return on their investment.
As leaders, we cannot take for granted that up-and-coming talent has had the same experiences we have had. The business world is moving at a different pace, and the variables are definitely more abundant. This is the ever-perplexing aspect of leaders developing emerging leaders. Our development rate and expectations of that development took place in different time cycles. Yet, we expect emerging leaders to compress their development to respond to the current rate of business.
The shortest cycle of development passes directly through a person’s building of self-confidence. When a person’s self-confidence not only grows but is validated, they prepare themselves for the next level of growth. If self-confidence gets eroded, then it is sliding backward, and leadership needs to first rebuild that part of the development before moving to the next level.
This week, use your self-growth and development time to assess how you build self-confidence in your team. Whether it is an emerging leader or an entry-level talent, both need your expertise to help them grow personally and professionally. When you meet them at the growth place of building self-confidence, they begin to blossom as people, and their contribution to themselves and the organization grows at a more profound rate.
Do you need to give your team a platform to build Self-Confidence? At JKL Associates, a Promise Guide is just the trick to engaging growth for your organization. Give us a call at FL (407) 984-7246 or MI (313) 527-7945.
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QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS – EMAIL US AT PARTNERS@JKLASSOCIATES.COM OR CALL OUR OFFICES – MI AT (313) 527-7945 FL AT (407) 984-7246
Celebrating 30 years of Delivering on “Promises”
