What is your groups biggest asset?

Leaders do not become leaders without some type of involvement with people. They are a leader’s greatest asset. Many times someone is placed in a leadership position, but they are focused more on themselves than the people they are working for and with, and the end result is inefficiency. People are what help keep the train moving. John Maxwell writes that, ‘the average executive spends three-fourths of his working time dealing with people. The largest single cost in most business is people. The largest, most valuable asset any company has is its people. All executive plans are carried out, or fail to be carried out, by people.’ It is important for a leader to never lose sight of this. If they are going to be successful then they need to make it a priority and a mandate that people development will occur under their leadership.

It is important that leaders are not stuck on the idea of a person being set at the particular position they were hired on for, because they may have greater strengths in others areas. The leader needs to keep an eye out for this and help them develop, which might mean moving them into a new position where they can excel. Also, it is important for the leader to mingle amongst his/her workers and encourage everyone and really cling to just a few from a mentoring aspect. Another thing that will make a leader a successful people developer is allowing the people to take ownership of the company and/or goal. People want to feel like they are a part of something, not just doing something because someone said so. The best thing a leader should ask himself is; How can I help make those around me more successful?

In order to be successful, a leader must also ask good questions of the people who work for them. If they are asking the right questions then they are able to deal with the situations that might come up as well as knowing how to build them up. Leaders need to know what people are good at in order that they may help them grow in these areas, he/she must ask themselves what are the strengths of this individual. People are in need of seeing value in the things they are doing, so leaders need to ask themselves if this is occurring. For instance, John Maxwell writes, “The reason people skip the meeting you worked so hard to plan is simple: they haven’t seen the value (benefits and rewards) they will receive by being there.” It is important to ask these types of questions in order to be a good leader.

Leaders do not just fill a position; they are in the business of making and growing relationships. They must be willing to be extraverted in their attempts and not introverted. Leaders in any situation need to keep all of this in mind. A leader must be interacting with his people and alert to who they are and what they do in order to help them, which will in turn be a blessing to the business or the situation.