How to Develop Leadership Skills that Enable Growth and Change

In a world where change is often the only constant, developing leadership skills that enable change is crucial. Every employee in a management role must recognise the need for change, whether within their teams or the wider organisation, to help navigate evolving landscapes. This mindset is essential in competitive markets, where continual improvement is key to remaining relevant.

Yet, the process of change isn’t just about survival, it’s about making the most of opportunities to innovate, grow and thrive in an ever-changing business world. A significant number of studies show that a majority of change and transformation initiatives fail to deliver on the outcomes expected, that perhaps only about 30% actually deliver what was hoped for. Why, because leaders core leadership skills were not effectively developed.

Understanding Transformational Leadership

At the heart of leading change is the concept of ‘transformational leadership’. This leadership approach is defined by its focus on motivating team members to broaden their mindset, exceed their usual limits and proactively participate in the process of improving day-to-day operations to transform the organisation.

By adopting this continuous improvement mindset, transformational leaders promote steady constant growth, ensuring an organisation remains current. Not to mention, avoiding disruptive and large-scale changes when the organisation discovers, after years of no change, it is well behind what’s needed which is common in many industries.

Encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and supporting creativity will enable transformation and boost organisational outcomes. It will also instil a sense of purpose and belonging among teams, not only improving engagement but promoting a commitment to the organisation’s vision and goals.

It’s important to understand that a significant driver of effective transformation is emotional–belief amongst employees in the vision leaders create. An employee’s effort will potentially increase by about 20% if they become rationally committed to a change – “it makes logical sense”. But if they become emotionally committed it can increase effort by over 40% – “I believe”.

Developing Leadership Skills for Growth and Change

To create an organisation that prioritises growth and change, and to optimise the number and quality of ideas developed by employees, there are some key actions to take;

1. 1. Create an Inspiring Environment – Establish a positive and motivational culture at the team level. Good leaders should inspire team members to contribute their best ideas, building a collective desire for improvement. This is about the leader listening, showing they care, and building trust. This is employee engagement.

2. 2. Encourage Strategic Thinking – Motivate team members to identify opportunities that align with the organisation’s goals and objectives. Understanding the bigger picture helps generate ideas that contribute to overall improvement, builds commitment, and enable agility whilst also breaking down silos. That then enables more effective collaboration across the organisation which further enhances performance.

3. 3. Positive Consideration of Ideas – Actively and positively evaluate the ideas presented by team members. This approach not only shows their contributions are valued, but also encourages a culture of openness and innovation. Constructive feedback is key, even if an idea doesn’t move forward it’s critical recognition for creating it is given.

4. 4. Effective Application and Support – Once viable ideas are identified, ensure they are supported whilst put into practice. This is crucial to turn these ideas from concepts into actionable and beneficial changes for the team and organisation. This also demonstrates to everyone that new ideas are welcome and actioned where they can be.

Implementing these steps effectively is essential for reaping the benefits of transformative leadership. But management teams also need to develop specific leadership skills that support and drive growth and change within their organisations;

• • Optimised task delivery skills – These are the foundation for success day to day even without change being required. Too often however these are lacking, data suggests that this is a critical barrier to enabling best outcomes and transformation.

• • Adaptive Thinking – Embrace a growth mindset by seeing change as an opportunity, not a challenge. This involves continuous learning and adaptability, which enables agility, key leadership skills for navigating an evolving business environment. This includes preparing contingency plans to ensure smooth transitions during organisational changes.

• • Strategic Vision – Master the art of strategic thinking then planning. This requires understanding the organisations key objectives and then setting clear goals and milestones for the team to support them.

• • Effective Communication – Develop the ability to communicate a vision effectively, inspiring and engaging others, showing how they contribute to the big picture and how that then benefits them. An effective leader will then use their enthusiasm to encourage change and further build belief to motivate the team.

• • Resilience in Adversity – Learn to view challenges as opportunities for improvement, encourage team members to support each other, to bring the team together in a focused way to overcome adversity. This leadership example is key in fostering a culture that views setbacks as opportunities for learning and development.

• • Team Appreciation – Prioritise recognising team efforts and celebrating successes. This not only reinforces teamwork but also boosts morale, creating a sense of achievement and belonging that drives a team towards wanting to be even more successful.

Becoming an Effective Leader Who Promotes Change

All in all, the development of leadership skills that are focused on growth and change is critical in today’s fast-paced world. By embracing transformational leadership, management teams can not only adapt to change but become catalysts for positive constant improvement within their organisations. Ultimately, business is about staying ahead of the curve and using change to your advantage.

When improving your leadership skills, it’s beneficial to look beyond the basics of decision-making skills and communication skills and step out of your comfort zone to explore new leadership styles.

“Just good enough” as a leader is in reality “not good enough”. You must strive to be your best – optimise task delivery, get the best from people and align to strategic objectives. That will Accelerate Your Success.

You can find out more about transformational leadership, including podcasts with successful leaders who have done it, and how it can benefit your organisation.

Why I wrote this article 

As a leadership speaker and motivational speaker, my articles are focused on helping leaders beat the challenges they are facing and become more successful. They try to solve the key challenges leaders from amongst the over 22,000 from around the world I have spoken to have told me they face. Many of them are consistent.

As a leadership speaker, my objective is to help leaders use my Accelerate Your Success system to be more successful by equipping them with the tools and confidence needed to tackle challenges and seize opportunities then, as a motivational speaker, to inspire them to take the first step on their journey.

The insights in the articles are based on my 40 years of experience in “hands-on” leadership roles in the military, business, and Government, 25 of those delivering major transformations and developing the performance of senior leaders. That’s then interwoven with success stories from real business case studies.

As a leadership speaker and motivational speaker to ensure a successful event that delivers insight, interaction, inspiration, and impact tailoring is key. This focused approach is how I help leaders and their organisations to achieve their desired event outcomes  – beating challenges, exceeding objectives, managing transformation and change, becoming Entrepreneurial Leaders, and whatever is critical for them to take action on afterward for success.