The Rules of Engagement
A Commitment to Your Employees

By John Lankford

Leaders earn their stripes by bringing their organizations through challenges and applying the lessons learned along the way. Even today's most seasoned leaders, however, have never reckoned with the unique challenges endemic to the current economy.

At a recent luncheon held by the Innisbrook Leadership Institute, feedback from more than 80 CEOs and presidents indicated most leaders lack the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in this economy.

One simple causal relationship serves as a barometer of effective leadership. It's not cash flow and it's not marketplace reputation. It's something even more primary – and it serves as the basis of those 80 leaders' conclusions about their own performance: leadership engagement.  According to Marcus Buckingham’s book, First, Break All the Rules, companies exhibiting the highest levels of employee engagement were more likely to have above-average: employee retention (44%), customer loyalty (56%), safety records (50%), productivity (50%), and profitability (33%).

Success in any economy begins with an executive mindset that human capital is a company's greatest asset. Understanding a changing marketplace in a given industry and adjusting the strategic plan accordingly are crucial, of course. Staff development and an investment in its people, however, must remain an essential part of an organization's mission and identity.

Within your Ranks

Your priority must be to develop your staff. There are leaders ready to be developed and established leaders that also need further education. You must refine a process by which employees are chosen for this type of leadership development – and identify the core competencies that need to be addressed at every level. You will find it helpful to undergo coaching yourself to help with such a system. Build accountability into the system so leaders will hold each other responsible for their development, focus and application to the workplace.

Outside assistance will also help you bring in top talent instructors. Insist on program content that is important to your leadership team today and in the near future. The participant assessment data you compiled in your selection process will help customize the program's focus and content. Training does not have to be an intrusive process. Indeed, it can be integrated seamlessly with on-the-job assignments. It's still important, though, to provide external one-on-one coaching with each leader in the program.

Buy-in and participation at all levels is absolutely essential. Hold annual review sessions in which the CEO and other top executives are intimately involved. Build leadership development into your budget as though your company’s future depends on it. Integrate personal and leadership development into your performance management system. Finally, be sure to collect accurate data about each participant's past and current individual and team performance to align their development with your organizational leadership scorecard.

Everybody Wins

The following areas of your organization benefit when you focus on leadership development:

A)  Recruitment – A well designed program can attract top talent.

B)  Retention – People have every reason to stay when there are opportunities for professional growth.

C)  Performance – Your investment must be linked to performance expectations.

D)  ROI – Well-defined ROI is easy to calculate and more than pays for the costs of the program.

E)  Collaboration – As each group goes through 12 to 15 months of focused development, they become far closer as a team.

F)   Resources – This targeted approach saves time, money and resources.

G)  Communication – Cross-functional communication will improve.

H)  Culture – When top performers are moved horizontally and vertically throughout the company, the company’s values and culture are reinforced.

I)  Compensation – This systematic approach provides additional data for accurate compensation planning.

J)  Cost reduction – Studies show 50% of executives hired from outside a company fail within 24 months.

By design or by luck?

Leadership development systems can be seamlessly integrated into existing recruiting, hiring, new employee “on-boarding,” and accountability processes, just to name a few. Below are three case studies of organizations that have applied such an integrated, customized approach over a three-year period.

A)  A healthcare organization improved organizational trust in management by 89%, which helped increase employee satisfaction by 46% over three years, which reduced turnover 31%, contributing to an $8 million dollar annual savings.

B)  An automotive manufacturing company delivered a systematic safety training program at one of the Big 3 which helped them reduce their accident/injury incident rate to a level that translated to over $30 million in savings.

C)  At one “high-involvement engine plant,” a manufacturing company reduced its high mileage warranty costs by one half billion dollars. During one quarter, quality defects dropped to zero – a first for a Big-3 automotive engine plant.

In his book, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell cites his number one rule, The Law of the Lid, which articulates that an organization will never outperform its leadership team.

Is your company’s future going to play out by design or by luck? Your leadership ability equates to being able to tap into the strengths of your people and keep them engaged  and, for better or worse, determines your effectiveness.

About the Author
John Lankford was recognized as the 2007 and 2008 Associate Business Coach of the Year in North America and 2008 Global Associate Coach of the Year for ActionCOACH; Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2009 #1 Business Coaching franchise in the world. His business expertise as a partner of ActionCOACH Pinellas has been tapped by the New York Times and CBS. He is the author of Superstar for Life...Career Transitions. John’s keynote speaking has landed him on the elite team that trains and certifies the new executive coaches joining the worldwide ActionCOACH community. John was recently named the CEO for the Innisbrook Leadership Institute. You can contact John at: JohnLankford@ActionCoach.com