Every company envisions being a fast-growing company that has the pulse on its customers’ changing needs and follows an agile approach to meet those needs before the competitor does. A fast-growing company requires its employees to adopt a growth mindset. It especially looks for leaders who can drive growth and make the company nimble-footed.
Here are a few skills that a company looks for in its top leaders.
Leadership
Employees always look for mentors and coaches in their leaders. They prefer to work with leaders who demonstrate the same level of commitment and diligence as they do. Fast-growing companies look for leaders who can inspire and lead by example and maintain transparency while interacting with employees. They also look for leaders who possess high emotional intelligence and create an environment where people are respected irrespective of their diverse background, and where passion towards work is considered more significant.
Also Read: Critical Leadership Skills that High-Potential Women Leaders Should Be Groomed On
Problem-Solving
Failures are inevitable when companies innovate and grow. The key factor is to learn from the failures and challenges and move ahead. A growth-focused company looks for leaders who don’t shift the blame on to anybody but instead take a solution-based approach to solve the business challenges. These leaders give importance to customer-centricity and work towards building trust within and outside the company. A good leader will take the onus of the mistakes and take ownership to solve them.
Also Read: The 3 Most In-Demand Power Skills for Managers Today
Open Communication
Running a fast-growing company is not a one-person activity. It requires several people with specialized skills to manage it smoothly. For a business to run smoothly, leaders have to be able to communicate their vision and ideas to their employees and other stakeholders with laser-sharp clarity.
As Susan Tardanico, founder and CEO of the Authentic Leadership Alliance, said, “Forget about eloquence — worry about being real.”
Leaders should be clear about what they expect to achieve and what they expect people to do to achieve it. Communication is also a two-way street. So, companies prefer to work with leaders who are open to new ideas and are willing to listen to other people’s perspectives while making business decisions. A democratic way of functioning is always preferred.
Consistent Execution and Results
Companies like to work with leaders who act decisively and make crucial business decisions based on evidence and not emotions or gut feelings. They like to work with leaders who have the ability to drive growth and deliver results consistently. It is also important that leaders have the ability to challenge the status quo. It helps companies to drive innovation and grow faster than their competitors.
Take Dell, for instance. Michael Dell could foresee changes that were to occur in the future and bring in rapid changes to get to the market before his competitors. He did everything to foster innovation within the enterprise. If a company has to deliver consistent results and stay ahead, it has to innovate constantly. That’s possible only when the leader makes bold decisions in the interest of the company and people.
Also Read: When the Threat of Disruption Is the New Normal, How Are Enterprises Fostering Innovation?
Innovation with agility
In the early 1900s, Henry Ford had captured 60% of the automobile market share worldwide. His secret sauce was combining agility with innovation. In a fast-paced environment, agility and innovation is the key to a company’s success. Fast-growing companies often look for leaders who have an agile mindset and are innovative at the same time. They need leaders who are willing to take intelligent risks and accept failure. They should be able to inspire others to adopt agility in their business processes as well. This type of culture can help companies to stay at the top of their game consistently.
Tight Collaboration
Companies grow and achieve more when disparate teams share common goals. Alignment between sales and marketing, for instance, can help companies achieve 27% faster three-year growth.
Collaboration leads to faster decision-making, more productivity, and revenue growth. However, collaboration can happen only when leaders encourage it. Leaders must break the silos, engage with all the teams, and unify them to deliver as a single unit. They should also be capable of building trust among team members and resolving differences between the teams to avoid derailment of work.
Self-Management
A leader can manage a team only when they can manage themselves. Fast-growing companies need leaders who have established personal credibility throughout their careers and are constantly yearning to learn and grow in their personal and professional areas of life.
These skills may or may not be innate within an individual. They are cultivated and honed throughout their career. While leaders may come with their set of skills, companies also have an equal role to play in the development of leaders.
AI-based learning platforms such as NumlyEngage™ help companies identify the skill gaps in leaders and help them nurture and develop those skills. Get a demo today!
