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As a seasoned professional, you know that the true power of leadership lies in recognizing the potential within your team and creating an environment that allows them to demonstrate leadership themselves. However, too many leaders forget this and default into focusing on immediate outcomes rather than nurturing future leaders. The result? A disengaged workforce, stifled creativity, and missed opportunities for growth.
Leadership potential goes unnoticed
Research shows that 58% of managers say they've never received formal training in leadership or management. If your current managers are not adequately equipped, imagine the untapped potential among your team members who have not yet been given the opportunity to lead.
This lack of leadership development leads to broader organizational issues. Gallup reports that 67% of U.S. employees are disengaged at work, a statistic that should concern any leader. Disengagement impacts innovation, productivity, and retention. If your team isn't invested in the work they're doing — or if they don't see pathways to growth within the company — they're less likely to contribute their best efforts.
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Creating an environment that fosters leadership
The key to solving this issue lies in recognizing and nurturing the leaders on your team. By shifting your approach from simply managing tasks to mentoring future leaders, you create an environment that supports your organization's long-term success.
This process involves three critical elements: empowerment, encouragement of risk-taking, and creativity. Let's explore how each of these components can help you uncover and develop the leaders within your organization.
1. Empowerment. Too often, leaders operate from a top-down management perspective of giving orders and monitoring that tasks are completed. While this approach may yield short-term results, it does little to spawn the growth needed for long-term success. Instead, adopt a mentorship mindset. Mentors see the potential in others, sometimes even before those individuals see it in themselves. When you shift from a command-and-control to a guide-on-the-side stance, you empower team members to take ownership of their development. This shift allows individuals to grow and ignites an organizational culture of continuous improvement.
2. Encouragement of Risk-Taking: The next step is creating an environment where you encourage your staff to take risks. A critical ingredient in such environments is creating psychological safety, defined by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson as a climate where individuals feel safe to voice their opinions, try things, and make mistakes without fear of retribution. When people feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to step up, offer innovative ideas, and take on leadership roles. Google's "Project Aristotle" study found that psychological safety was the single most important factor in determining the success of high-performing teams. Without it, even the most talented employees will hold back, afraid of failure or judgment.
3. Invite Novel Approaches. When your team tackles the next challenge, encourage them to approach understanding and solving the problem in new ways. For example, rather than assigning roles based on titles or hierarchy for a specific project, try presenting a challenge to the entire team and see who steps forward. This exercise will not only drive innovation but will also reveal the natural leaders in the group. When people are free to innovate, problem-solve and collaborate without rigid boundaries, you'll find your people taking ownership in surprising ways. This is how you uncover hidden leadership potential, and it's one of the most powerful ways to ensure your organization is constantly growing new leaders from within.
Related: 3 Simple Ways to Empower Your Team
SOLV Energy: Unleashing leaders
One organization that has harnessed empowerment, risk-taking, and creativity to grow leaders within its ranks is SOLV Energy. Through their structured mentoring program, employees across its workforce can step into leadership roles, collaborate across departments, and solve problems in new ways. Mentors help their mentees grow in confidence, enabling them to explore new approaches without fearing failure, fostering a psychological safety culture. As a result, the organization improves employee satisfaction and enhances its capacity for innovation.
Related: 7 Ways to Empower Your Team to Thrive Through Change
How to foster leadership in your own organization
Practical steps to try today to grow leaders within your organization include:
1. Adopt a mentorship mindset: Shift your focus from managing tasks to mentoring individuals, and encourage managers throughout your organization to do the same. Focus on long-term development rather than short-term deliverables. Questions I ask to assess my coaching clients' mindsets include: Are you simply giving your team direction or developing their potential? Are you creating opportunities for them to step into leadership roles, or are you making all the decisions yourself? Shifting your mindset from directing to guiding is foundational to nurturing future leaders.
2. Create psychological safety: Fostering a culture where employees feel safe expressing ideas, taking risks, and making mistakes starts with how you react to challenges, mistakes, and new ideas. Encourage open dialogue and actively seek out diverse perspectives. When someone brings up an unconventional idea, resist the urge to dismiss it. Instead, ask questions, explore possibilities, and demonstrate that all ideas are valued. Creating this type of environment allows leadership to emerge naturally, as team members feel empowered to take initiative and contribute their unique strengths.
3. Encourage creative problem-solving and growth: Implement projects where team members can approach challenges creatively without predefined roles. This will help identify natural leaders who may not have had the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a traditional setting. Once you've identified potential leaders, provide them with opportunities to lead small projects and take initiative in other ways. Ensure there is a clear path for leadership development within your organization.
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Your most important role as a leader is not simply showing the way, it is building other leaders. Fostering an environment of mentoring, psychological safety, and creativity unlocks the full potential of your team and supports your organization's long-term health and growth. These are the secrets to developing the next generation of leaders who will carry your company into the future.
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