Frankenstein's Manager
Lousy employee leadership got you down? Hey, Dr. Entrepreneur, here's how to <i>build </i>the perfect supervisor.
You've probably heard the old joke about leadership being the ability to figure out which way people are going, then running to get in front of them. You might laugh, but in today's world, business owners can't afford to ignore poor leadership in their supervisors, managers and executives. A recent survey of top U.S. companies revealed that businesses have a difficult time finding qualified leaders and that employees fear their companies face an uncertain future due to lack of leadership. And, of the leaders surveyed, 70 percent said that they pursued development activities to make themselves more marketable for other jobs, and not necessarily at their current companies.
The study, conducted by Development Dimensions International Inc. (DDI) in Pittsburgh, focused on large corporations, but Barrie Athol, DDI's vice president, says the results are equally, if not more, applicable to entrepreneurial businesses. "The strength of a leader has much more impact on the success of a small organization than a large organization," Athol says. "For example, in a small company, if you have an open executive slot or one of the executives is not performing well, that could mean a third of your executive leadership is [floundering]. If you have one executive who is not performing well in a large corporation, there are [plenty of] others to cover for him."
Continue reading this article - and everything on Entrepreneur!
Become a member to get unlimited access and support the voices you want to hear more from. Get full access to Entrepreneur for just $5.
Entrepreneur Editors' Picks
-
These Co-Founders Are Using 'Quiet Confidence' to Flip the Script on Cutthroat Startup Culture and Make Their Mark on a $46 Billion Industry
-
My 7-Year-Old Daughter Started Selling Eggs. Here's What She Taught Me About Running a Startup.
-
Why You Need to Become an Inclusive Leader (and How to Do It)
-
Career Transitions You Can Make in Your 40s and 50s
-
Billionaire Naveen Jain Is an Expert at Disrupting Fields He Has No Experience In. His Secret Sauce for Building Multi-Million Dollar Companies? 'You Have to Come as Naive.'
-
4 Principles to Develop Next-Level Leadership at Your Company
-
This Filipino American Founder Is Disrupting the Beverage Aisle by Introducing New Flavors to the Crowded Bubbly Water Market