On a recent business trip while waiting at the gate for departure I was catching up on business emails and capturing notes from the day’s events when the large TV screen in the boarding area caught my attention. It showed groups of young individuals (teenagers) in a major US City doing violence and destruction of property. I could not hear the commentary too clearly, so it was difficult to determine what caused the release of such activity. So, I did what we all do these days and searched for insights on the internet. My findings did not give me a specific answer but lots of perspectives from a variety of sources. Each one having their own take on the situation.
The one comment which caused me to read further into the insight was from a local person to the area and their comment was – where is/was the parenting of these individuals.
It took me back for a moment to a place in my youth when parents – either mine or my friends’ parents were involved in our lives. At the time I was likely not too pleased when they enforced certain rules which I was not in favor of but in looking back I was blessed to have such intervention which later in life has proven to be very valuable.
This started me thinking about the state of business leaders and dealing with the talent challenges of the marketplace today. It is currently the largest challenge for businesses of all sizes. Where can they find, attract, retain, and engage talent to provide the goods and services the marketplace is wanting and needing.
Business leaders today are being driven to take on parenting responsibilities just to run their businesses. This is in addition to the actual operational aspects of producing whatever product or services their business offers. There is not only a void in technical or academic skills of people entering the workplace, but they are weak in human life and interpersonal skills to even get along with others in the business setting. This creates lots of drama and non-productive actions.
As leaders we had become accustomed to members of the community entering the workforce with some basic skills and grooming them to be specific to the work activity of their career. The investment today must include the very basics on everything from hygiene to communincation. This is absolutely not every individual entering the workforce, but the number is increasing. This is changing the rules of the game and so as leaders we need to have a system to address the needs.
The traditional idea of On-the-Job Training focused on application of technical or academic skills. Today our onboarding efforts must also include the expectations of how members of the team are to interact. It can’t be taken for granted that everyone is coming into the workplace with the same foundation. Your foundation is your Core Purpose, your Core Values, and your vivid Vision of the business. By defining and attracting talent which aligns with your organization’s framework, your investment into the team can produce better outcomes.
This week as you refine your leadership, consider the nature of how you have led in the past and how you need to lead in the future. You can choose to ignore it, or you can recognize the rules of the game are changing and adapt to the changes. If we consider the leadership on the streets reference earlier, the situation was fluid and needed to be agile in their response. It is desirable to be prepared but we also need to be ready to flex when change is upon us.
Is your foundation and framework of your business set up and ready to be rolled out to the members of your team? Give a Promise Guide a call to work with your team to build a foundation for the future. Call JKL Associates – (MI) 313-527-7945 or (FL) 407-984-7246.
Journey On!
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Celebrating 30 years of Delivering on “Promises”
