With bad news filling inboxes and blazing on websites daily, it’s easy for people to say that leadership development must be put on the back burner for more pressing issues.
We disagree!
Now more than ever it is important for companies to invest in their communities and their people to reap rewards today and to take advantage of what will surely come tomorrow.
During boom times companies can make do with a less than stellar leadership team and as a result can get away with greater leadership risk. But when the economic tide turns, investment in leadership is more critical to the continued prosperity of the company. According to Steven Meredith, Global Knowledge Director at Talent Intelligence “Our research and insights, from advising Global Fortune 500 level companies, indicates that it is more important than ever for organizations to invest in their leadership during recessionary periods so that the business not only survives but emerges stronger than the competition.”
Leadership is more than intuition – it’s education. By enrolling in long-term leadership development classes, such as Leadership Fairfax, Leadership Washington and Leadership Chicago, participants hone and refine their skills among their peers – other leaders — which make them more valuable both as employees and to the company. The contacts and skills that participants learn in their ten-month program change their lives while helping their company’s bottom line.
“People buy people before they buy products and services,” commented Wendy Lemieux, Marketing Director, Leadership Fairfax. “By investing in their people, companies made a strategic investment in their bottom line which pays off in retention, increased influence, connections and sustainable influence in the community.” Using long term leadership classes will ultimately position your company to take advantage when the economy turns.
Or, as Steven Covey put it “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
