From staying competitive to motivate employees to maintaining relevance, here are the 15 answers to the question, “What are your best reasons ongoing development and learning are important for conscious leadership?”
- Stay Competitive and Motivate Employees
- Help Leaders Connect to Others
- Improved Financial Performance
- Recruit and Keep Top Employees
- Boost Engagement in the Workplace
- Make Yourself a Sought-After Leader
- Drive Innovation
- Open Up a World of Possibilities
- Prevent Burnout
- Avert Complacency and Stagnation
- Set an Example
- Keep Humility
- Influence Strategy Execution
- Effectively Spearhead Organizational Plans
- Maintain Relevance
Stay Competitive and Motivate Employees
One reason ongoing development and learning for leaders is important is to stay ahead of the curve in their industry. For instance, a CEO of a technology company should stay up to date on the latest trends in the tech world to make sure the company is using the most efficient tools and practices.
This not only allows the CEO to remain competitive but also shows their team that they are invested in their success and dedicated to leading them in the most effective way possible. Not to mention, a curious leader inspires a culture of constant learning within their organization.
Michael Alexis, CEO, swag.org
Help Leaders Connect With Others
Leaders should invest in their own education to stay ahead of the competition and to remain relevant in their field. For example, they should take the time to learn a new language, such as Japanese, to better understand the culture of their business partners.
This will help them to better communicate and collaborate with those outside of their own language and culture. Additionally, learning a new language can open up new opportunities for the leader and their business. It can also help to increase their understanding of the global market and international trends, allowing them to make informed decisions that can benefit their organization.
Tasia Duske, CEO, Museum Hack
Improve Financial Performance
This is one reason why leaders should prioritize continuous improvement and learning in their careers, because leadership development is immediately visible in various aspects that directly affect the bottom line. Investing in the training of employees who can increase customer happiness, identify untapped sources of income, and save expenses can result in a fivefold increase in a company’s return on investment.
Gerrid Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, Joy Organics
Recruit and Keep Top Employees
Leadership programs allow workers to advance within an organization rather than looking elsewhere to do so. By giving these initiatives a top priority, you’re showing that you value their contribution to the growth of your most valuable resource: your people.
Although it may seem counterintuitive to spend money on a leadership program, research has shown that it can generate a return on investment of up to six times the initial outlay.
Edward Mellett, Co-Founder, Wikijob
Boost Engagement in the Workplace
This is incredibly important for those that have held a leadership position for many years and may feel stagnant in their role. Allowing leaders to learn about the ongoing developments of the workplace, whether it be new policies or diversity training, are incredibly important in the overall growth of the company. That said, it is important to invest in your leaders if you would like to ensure the betterment of the company is intact.
Adrian Pereira, Co-Founder, Eco Pea Co.
Make Yourself a Sought-After Leader
As a leader, your job is never done, including your education. It is important for leaders to pursue ongoing development and learning opportunities because things are constantly changing, no matter your industry, job title, or team.
There is always room for improvement, and you will continue to grow your career as a leader as long as you stay hungry for information and improvement. An ever-evolving business leader has job security and will be sought after.
Sumeer Kaur, CEO, Lashkaraa
Drive Innovation
There is often a point where you feel you’ve plateaued in your career or at work, even as a leader, so continuing your development and learning is important so that you can continue to bring in fresh ideas and lead your team in ways you haven’t thought of before.
As a leader, it’s important that you support your employees as they look to you for guidance. If you take the time to grow and develop your knowledge and skill sets outside of work, you can leverage your learning when helping your team grow as well. Overall, this will help your team be more productive and see more success in the future.
Bill Lyons, CEO, Griffin Funding
Open Up a World of Possibilities
Leaders have to make hard decisions in today’s rapidly developing and unpredictable environment. They need to identify new opportunities, assess the risks, and decide quickly in order to succeed.
Leadership development can help leaders hone their decision-making skills by teaching them how to think through problems and look at situations objectively. By learning how to develop creative solutions, evaluate likely outcomes, and weigh potential risks, leaders can become better equipped to create positive change within their organizations.
This type of decision-making capability is becoming increasingly important as businesses move towards a more agile approach with fast cycles of innovation and disruption.
Todd Saunders, General Manager, BIG Safety
Prevent Burnout
Ongoing leadership development is critical to preventing and treating burnout in leaders. Even those at the highest level are not immune from the ravages of burnout. Leadership programs can reinvigorate their careers by providing new ideas and outlooks to try if a leader becomes stuck in old, less productive habits. Even if burnout is not so much a concern, an excellent program can always be a welcome change of pace in the office and help improve overall job satisfaction.
Adam Bem, Co-Founder & COO, Victoria VR
Avert Complacency and Stagnation
The higher someone is in a company’s hierarchy, the fewer people there are above them who can give them constructive feedback. The thing is, just because someone’s reached the leadership level doesn’t mean they’ve run out of areas to improve, or that they’ve reached the peak of their career progress.
Ongoing leadership development ensures that team members at all levels are making continuous improvements and that creates a culture of learning that drives more innovation and business growth.
This helps to make sure the people at the top aren’t holding the company back because of outdated knowledge or underdeveloped skill sets that they may not even realize they’re lacking without ongoing development to keep them in a growth mindset.
Matt Erhard, Managing Partner, Summit Search Group
Set an Example
Having worked as a leader in different capacities, I can attest to the importance of ongoing development and learning. The example I set for those I’m leading is critical in inspiring a passion for knowledge and fostering a growth mindset.
When my team sees that I’m continuously honing my skills and expanding my capabilities, they are more likely to try something new and go outside their comfort zone. It’s been extremely rewarding to witness the progression that this kind of dedication has enabled within my team; it all starts when leaders commit themselves to an ultra-learning lifestyle.
Ludovic Chung-Sao, Lead Engineer & Founder, Zen Soundproof
Keep Humility
Leaders should strive to remain humble and open to new ideas and perspectives. To do this, they should continue to learn and develop their skills and knowledge. This could include reading books and articles, attending seminars and workshops, and networking with other leaders.
By continuing to learn and develop, leaders can stay humble and receptive to outside options, enabling them to make better decisions and lead their teams more effectively.
They can also gain new insights and strategies that can help them stay ahead of the game. Ultimately, learning and development are essential for leaders to remain grounded and open to new ideas and opportunities.
Grace He, People & Culture Director, teambuilding.com
Influence Strategy Execution
Considering this, I think it’s critical for leaders to actively pursue further education and training, as true leadership growth isn’t growth for the sake of growth. To successfully implement their business strategies, companies require a leadership plan that is tightly aligned with those strategies and provides employees with leadership training.
By investing in their leaders, companies can influence their company ethos and direction. Leadership training can have a significant impact on a company’s culture and direction, as stated by The Conference Board.
The costs associated with hiring someone from the outside are often much more than the expenditures associated with developing, teaching, and promoting someone from the inside.
Timothy Allen, Sr. Corporate Investigator, Corporate Investigation Consulting
Effectively Spearhead Organizational Plans
A leader plays several crucial roles in an organization and spearheads its development efforts. But leading the way or even making headway is possible only when they are committed to their development and learning and have all the skills necessary to drive such a campaign.
Even when employees and managers form an excellent team to develop a blueprint that guarantees growth and success, without a leader to recognize the value in these plans and the foresight to see them through, every effort risks going to waste.
On the other hand, a leader who keeps learning and is at the forefront of every development and change will see the value a plan provides and even add to it.
Brendan McGreevy, Head of Strategy, Affinda
Maintain Relevance
Time stands still for no one. The things you’ve learned throughout your career can change rapidly if you aren’t paying attention. This may include technical aspects of your job, or it may be updated to laws or company policy.
Whatever it is, as a leader, it’s your responsibility to be knowledgeable. While you can’t be an expert in everything, if you are managing other people, you need to make sure that you have the foundations needed to comprehend and adjust to all the changing factors of your work environment.
This keeps relevant as a leader, while also increasing your value to your team and your business. A wealth of experience topped with a willingness to expand your knowledge is an attractive double whammy that both companies and the teams you work with will appreciate.
Max Ade, CEO, Pickleheads
Here at Keystone Group International, we believe in conscious leadership. To learn more about conscious leadership in the “New Normal”, check out this article by our Chief Visionary Officer and Founder, Jaime Taets.
