July 20, 2025 • 21 mins
What separates exceptional leaders from merely competent managers? The answer lies in how they approach the growth and development of those they lead. Join John and Greg as they explore the heart of leadership's responsibility, to lend the helping hand to those on your team.
Servant leadership flips traditional leadership models on their head by focusing not on the leader's advancement, but on nurturing the potential in every team member. As Sir Richard Branson wisely notes, "Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don't want to." This philosophy forms the foundation of truly transformative leadership that builds strong organizations from within.
We explore practical strategies for investing in your team's growth, from providing meaningful leadership opportunities to communicating with radical transparency. Learn how to identify potential leaders, create personalized development plans, and build clear career paths that keep talented employees engaged and motivated. The HR perspective brings additional insights on mentorship programs, coaching initiatives, and succession planning that transform theoretical concepts into actionable workplace practices.
Through personal stories, we share both successes and learning moments from our own leadership journeys. From helping an overlooked employee finally complete their education and advance their career to creating a deliberate 90-day development program for a future executive, these real-world examples demonstrate how authentic investment in others creates lasting impact.
The greatest satisfaction in leadership doesn't come from personal achievements but from seeing others grow and succeed because of your influence. Whether you're a seasoned executive or an emerging leader, these insights will help you build stronger teams, reduce turnover, and create an organizational culture where everyone can thrive. Ready to transform your leadership approach? Listen now and discover how committing to your employees' growth benefits everyone – including you.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody, yeah,when Greg and I were originally
talking about this podcastconcept, we wanted to do
something to help others andgive that hand up and take on
(00:42):
that next step.
So our concept is what does ittake in order to be a leader?
To that end, we have a storytoday that I think makes some
interest in terms of what doesthat mean to be a leader, and
it's from an interesting companycalled Psychology Compass I
found on the internet and theCEO and founder, rochon Frard.
(01:16):
He describes it as a placewhere technology and psychology
combines and that the two worldsrarely meet.
I'm not 100% sure if they'restill in business, but it was a
great article and we're going totalk about a little bit about
it.
There are different techniquesthat they describe in terms of
servant leadership, and we'regoing to talk about committing
to growth of your employees.
(01:37):
Servant leaders don't alwaysfocus on being great leaders
themselves.
They are invested in helpingtheir employees to grow and
develop.
Encouraging team members toparticipate in employee
development programs may helpexpand their knowledge and
skills.
You can always encourage themto take on active leadership
roles during certain projects.
(01:57):
Team members who know that theyare committed and they are
professional are more likely tolisten to suggestions to help
improve their work.
So whenever I thought aboutthis subject, I thought about
Sir Richard Branson, and he hasa wonderful quote train people
well enough so they can leave.
Treat them well enough so theydon't want to.
(02:19):
And really, if you're inleadership, you're trying to
find people that can take yourplace.
That whole idea of successionplanning, building your bench if
any of those words meananything, then you're dealing
with an organization thatunderstands that they have a
future.
So, to that point, what does itmean?
(02:43):
In order to develop for growth,one provide opportunities to
lead and develop.
One way to do this is toregularly ask for input and
demonstrate that you are open todiverse ideas.
See who speaks up and offersthoughtful ideas on how they
would improve the status quo andoffers thoughtful ideas on how
(03:05):
they would improve the statusquo.
You could also offer employeesthe opportunity to host a
meeting to gain experience, oryou could assign individuals to
be a go-to expert on specifictopics or skills Another way to
(03:31):
prepare people to commit to thegrowth of the individual.
Communicate with transparency.
Communicate with transparencyto share information freely.
Only when they have theinformation can employees make
sound decisions on how they cancontribute and step up in your
leadership roles.
(03:51):
To identify potentialenthusiasts, you can
specifically ask them during oneof the conversations, or maybe
during performance evaluationsin which the areas that they
would like to develop themselvesand whether they would
potentially see themselves in aleadership position in the
future.
Employees feel empowered whentime and resources have been
(04:16):
invested in their growth.
They start to feel themselvesas an integral part of the
organization, and this is whereyou can encourage them to lead
from the front.
The ever-famous quote that Ithink is important for any
leader is to understand lead byexample, leading by example and
(04:39):
the model of desired behavior iscritical.
The model of desired behavioris critical.
Modeling is believing in thefoundation for the leader to
influence and to be used topersuade employees to act in a
certain way.
So if you want your employeesto invest in themselves and
participate in developmentprograms, you should openly
(05:02):
promote this yourself andparticipate.
Setting an example includesshowing that you can take care
of yourself.
Engaging in daily servantleadership behavior can come at
a cost for leaders.
One study shows that theservant leadership can be
(05:24):
mentally depleting, specificallyfor leaders who are low in
perspective-taking or having athe ability to be self-aware.
That is, that you really needto be able to step back and make
an assessment of who you areand what you've done and the
necessary steps that you need inorder to recharge yourself.
(05:46):
But all those things that areassociated with leadership, the
things that are servingleadership, is the healing and
the awareness and the persuasionand stewardship, and really it
comes down to how well can youcommunicate and are you giving
(06:07):
an example to follow?
Greg, I think you have a littlebit more of a perspective.
How does the HR world kind ofapply this?
Thanks, John.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
So we look at it as providing targeted development
opportunities.
Mentorship and coaching Not oneor the other, but both.
Pair potential leaders withexperienced mentors who can
offer guidance.
They can offer insights andthey can offer support.
Implement coaching programs toaddress specific challenges,
enhance leadership capabilitiesand promote self-awareness.
(06:39):
Mentors can share knowledge,expand networks and advocate for
mentees.
Coaching focuses on enhancingcurrent performance and
addressing specific issues, anda combination of coaching and
mentoring may be most beneficialfor comprehensive leadership
development.
So let's talk about careerpathing and planning and a
(07:01):
little bit of an HR example hereof HR career paths, so you can
imagine the different thingsthat you can do in human
resources.
It's not just hiring anymore.
You can start off in employeecompensation and benefits, work
your way up into recruitment andtraining, go over to people and
culture and diversity,compliance, employee relations
lots of different things.
If you're trying to become aleader in HR milestones and
(07:32):
qualifications for advancements,regularly discuss career
aspirations with employees andhelp them identify opportunities
within the organization.
Whether you're doing oneperformance review a year or two
a year or three, make sure thatevery time you talk to the
employee in what I call aserious discussion about their
performance, talk to them abouttheir career aspirations right.
It shouldn't just be once ayear when you think about it.
Implement programs like jobrotation or try promotions to
(07:55):
provide employees with dueexperiences and responsibilities
.
John.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know, just to step back for a second.
Whenever you're having thosecareer discussions, I always
found it, as you know, once ayear is what they talk about is
performance reviews, and Ialways change it to career
discussions.
But it should be something thatyou talk about quarterly.
There's, there's the, theexchange and making sure what
are you doing, how are weadvancing, what do we know?
What else do we need to do?
(08:20):
That engagement needs to be.
Often it's sort of likewatering the plant.
You want, you don't want towater the plant once a year.
The more that you can bring itinto the conversation, the more
that you're going to get theresults that you're hoping for.
Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So that's good, John.
In fact, it reminds me of mylast company.
We actually met with employeesfour times a year.
We encourage them to meet moreoften than that, but recently
you said four times a year.
And we talk about what they'redoing well, what they can do
better, what kind of support dothey need?
Then it's always kind of in therotation and that's what you
want.
You're not trying to surpriseanybody or catch somebody doing
something wrong.
Exactly, let's talk aboutpromoting internal mobility.
(08:59):
A lot of companies have jobboards internally.
They have processes for postingfor jobs, whatever.
But if you prioritize internalhiring and establish a
transparent process promotingfrom within, people love it
Again, back with retention, backwith their own investment in
your company, you can't beat it.
John.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And the word that's most important transparent.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yes, yes, no bait and switch, no hide the plum job
underneath the file cabinetright.
Clearly communicate availableopportunities and provide
resources to help employeesprepare for new roles.
I have found that even ifemployees say you know, I wasn't
really eligible for that job ormaybe that's not my cup of tea,
they got excited that the jobswere posted and they could see
(09:44):
what was out there and they wereexcited for working for an
organization that was doing that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And then the next one cultivating a culture of
continuous learning and growth.
Exactly, and then the next one.
Cultivating a culture ofcontinuous learning and growth.
Encourage a growth mindset thatvalues challenges and learning
from experiences, meaning youcan make some mistakes.
You don't want to make the samemistake multiple times, but you
learn a lot from mistakes.
You want a company that'sthinking about real seriously
(10:11):
supporting work-life balance andoffering wellness programs to
prevent burnout and promoteoverall well-being, because this
is a lot of work trying to getyourself promoted, trying to
take on more responsibility,taking care of your current job
Guess what?
You've got life outside of this.
You know what's the companydoing to help make sure you can
get that balance and make sureyou can keep yourself fresh in
that.
And then promote diversity,equity and inclusion to create a
workplace where all employeesfeel valued and have an equal
opportunity to advance.
(10:32):
And to create a workplace whereall employees feel valued and
have an equal opportunity toadvance, and I can't say it any
better than that.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
No, I mean, would you find some of these
organizations that I worked forbecome such silos and that fixed
mindset that they've lost theability to see the creativity of
bringing in people with diversebackgrounds in order to try to
expand what they can do?
That creativity from differentperspectives is really what
(10:58):
gives, I think, us products, usmarkets, the biggest areas of
growth, because we're not in asingle mind.
We're always looking forsomething that's different.
The entrepreneurial spirit isreally what you're looking for.
You're not looking for someother requirement, you're
looking for people who want tobe engaged.
That's the key and I guess I'mtrying to pull this all together
(11:25):
the benefits of pulling someoneup in terms of leadership
development To improve employeeengagement and retention.
Employees feel valued ininvestment when they're
investing in their growth andleading to higher morale and
reduced turnover.
Stronger leadership pipelineOrganizations that develop a
(11:48):
pool of capable internalcandidates readily are able to
be filling positions as they areneeded.
Which I find interesting isthat organizations that do this
other companies know that andthey sometimes steal, but you're
still developing people andthey're still advancing.
There's still that joy ofhelping them take that next step
.
Enhance succession planningSmooth leadership transitions
(12:14):
are possible when people areprepared and there's a talent
pool to pull from and there's adefined path on how to get that
promotion.
All these things are importantin terms of communication that
if you're not doing and thoseplans are happening in secret,
you're not helping your internalcandidates taking that next
step.
Increase organizationalperformance.
(12:36):
Effective leaders driveproductivity, innovation and
strategic execution.
The employees that you havethat are actually accomplishing
that are the ones that youshould be looking for leadership
, but making sure that theyunderstand the soft skills as
well as the business side of theequation.
The last point is probably themost important point is creating
(12:58):
a positive work environment ora positive company culture, a
culture where growth,cooperation and learning is
fostered, making theorganization more attractive to
new talent, more attractive tonew talent.
So I kind of like this wholearticle on how it pulls a lot of
the things that are associatedwith what leadership means and
(13:21):
leadership development and howto get somebody ready for their
next opportunity, and sometimesit's been the part that has been
hard to communicate from ourpodcast and we've been asked
those kinds of questions.
I have a really good example ofmy attempt at trying to help
someone specifically In my firstmanagement role I was
(13:43):
overseeing company expansion anddesign and development and was
also responsible for facilitymanagement and coordinating with
the architectural andcontracting teams.
For facility management andcoordinating with the
architectural and contractingteams, I had one supervisor
(14:05):
reporting to me and quicklylearned that he was respected,
skilled and had been passed overfor the position that I now
held.
That dynamic made for a verytense start, to put it mildly.
The resentment was real and hisfrustration with me was
directed personally.
When he found out how open Iwas and communicative in terms
of style, it was refreshingcompared to what he had
experienced before.
Still, that discomfort lingered.
(14:29):
So I did something that wasunexpected as a new manager.
I invited him to lunch and awayfrom the usual workplace
tension.
I asked him candidly why was heso angry?
He opened up about the yearsthat he had missed promotions,
the countless interviews and theunfinished education that was
taking a toll.
He was still working on tryingto complete his bachelor's
(14:51):
degree but had changed majorsand therefore still needed
another year or two to finish.
After listening, I made uppromise that I would help make
his education path a priorityand that within a year he will
graduate.
I believe he was ready for theadvancement already and I
(15:13):
couldn't believe why the companyhad passed him by.
Unfortunately, I had theopportunity, but he was
qualified for the position andif the organization wasn't ready
to accept him that we wouldwork on trying to find him
another place to work.
Well, he was stunned, but hetook the leap.
(15:33):
Well, he was stunned but hetook the leap and at the end of
the day he was able to finishhis bachelor's degree within a
matter of like six months.
Since time had passed and weweren't able to advance him, he
landed a managerial positionwith another company and thrived
.
I wish I could have kept him,but the growth within our
(15:56):
department it wasn't possible atthat time.
The experience really revealeda deeper issue how siloed
thinking and stifled talent inthe industry, like manufacturing
or facilities, is reallytowards organizations like the
facility team or thehousekeeping team or other kind
(16:16):
of departments, and there aretalented people that can move
into those roles and cross-train.
Supporting and developingpeople and fostering teams and
seeing people grow beyond theircurrent roles is really where
the fun of leadership comes in.
Greg, you have an example ofapplying and helping somebody,
(16:39):
pulling them up through theranks.
I do.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
John, I have a couple , but I'm going to say the
second one because the first oneI was still learning.
I was a younger manager and Idefinitely made some mistakes.
Unfortunately, the person whowas being promoted filled in the
gaps, and that's okay.
Learning that I applied laterin life.
So my last couple of jobscompanies worked for were
looking at a pretty senior HRposition reporting to me.
(17:02):
But we knew that I was probablygoing to be doing something
different and not too far downthe line, and so we brought a
person in, qualified for therole that they were in, and I
sat down as I started thinkingabout their aspirations and what
they could do, what my bossalso thought they could do, and
I put together a plan to helpclose the gap.
So here's your regular job.
You've got to make that happen,but on the side we're going to
(17:24):
do these things.
And so I put together a 90-dayprogram of activities whether
there were board meetings to goto or staff meetings and how I
ran them and what I was tryingto accomplish, and check-ins and
checkpoints and that sort of me.
The company was growing andgoing and needed some
personality.
This individual didn't have tohave my sense of humor, right,
(17:52):
it wasn't required.
It just probably wasn'tnecessary.
It wasn't desired either.
But, having said that, theyneeded to be their own person,
but they needed to know whatthey needed to know to be
successful.
So, for instance, one thing Icreated was a list of unwritten
rules.
Here's some things that you'renot going to find in a manual or
the employee handbook, but I'mhere to tell you, in the role
you're probably going to go into, these are things you need to
(18:14):
be on the lookout for.
I'm going to tell you beforesomebody else tells you, and I
thought that was really, reallyimportant to do.
I remember taking this person toa business dinner and I was
tired and we were kind of doneand people were starting to
leave and I said, oh, you know,go ahead and sit.
She goes.
Nope, I'm not going to stay.
If you're not going to stay,and I thought about it.
I said, yeah, great, that was.
You know, you should stickaround a little more, right?
(18:36):
Part of this experience isn'tjust dumping the person off and
hoping they figure it out rightor maybe embarrass themselves or
be in a disadvantage situation.
So I'm glad I stayed and threwthat dinner and made sure we
walked out to the car together,whatever to the cars, but it's
really a lot of imparting onthem things to help them be
successful.
And if you take that attitude,saying I want you to be not as
(18:59):
good as me, probably better thanme, and I want to leave the
future of my department in thehands of someone that is going
to do a great job and can takethem to the next level, and that
was the attitude I had.
So I poured that into the planI had for them to be successful
in the job.
And for the last thing, I heardperson's doing very well in the
role and has really made someadvancements and I couldn't be
happier.
But that first experience, whenI kind of went through the
(19:22):
motions, taught me a lot aboutdon't go through the motions, be
deliberate.
Lot about don't go through themotions, be deliberate, put a
plan together, check, trust andverify, observe, offer candid
feedback and it worked out to bea successful situation.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I think helping others to grow in their
positions and grow in theircareers is where you really find
the satisfaction.
That I found when I was working.
I think you've said the samething.
That's why we wanted to do thispodcast and it's the part that
we really enjoy the most is,hopefully these hints and these
(19:59):
ideas strike a bell and willhelp you in terms of your job
and I hope you find the pleasureof helping people and seeing
their career grow because ofyour influence.
So, if you like what you'veheard, yeah, I wrote a book
(20:20):
called Building your LeadershipToolbox and it talks about a lot
of the things that we'retalking about in terms of
communication and helping others.
You're listening to our podcastand I appreciate it, whatever
format it is.
We're also available on Appleand Spotify and others.
Greg and I often referenceManagement by Responsibility by
(20:40):
Dr Durst.
His information and his programis available on
successgrowthacademycom.
Program is available onsuccessgrowthacademycom.
If you'd like to contact us, myemail address is wando75.jw at
gmailcom and, greg, I can bereached at gpowell374 at
gmailcom.
(21:00):
Yeah, and the music is broughtto you by my grandson, so we
want to hear from you.
We appreciate your, your input.
It has helped us with ourprogram and it's actually kind
of fun to hear what we'veactually come across and people
like.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
so thanks, greg thanks, john, as always next
time yeah.
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast Success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody, yeah,when Greg and I were originally
talking about this podcastconcept, we wanted to do
something to help others andgive that hand up and take on
(00:42):
that next step.
So our concept is what does ittake in order to be a leader?
To that end, we have a storytoday that I think makes some
interest in terms of what doesthat mean to be a leader, and
it's from an interesting companycalled Psychology Compass I
found on the internet and theCEO and founder, rochon Frard.
(01:16):
He describes it as a placewhere technology and psychology
combines and that the two worldsrarely meet.
I'm not 100% sure if they'restill in business, but it was a
great article and we're going totalk about a little bit about
it.
There are different techniquesthat they describe in terms of
servant leadership, and we'regoing to talk about committing
to growth of your employees.
(01:37):
Servant leaders don't alwaysfocus on being great leaders
themselves.
They are invested in helpingtheir employees to grow and
develop.
Encouraging team members toparticipate in employee
development programs may helpexpand their knowledge and
skills.
You can always encourage themto take on active leadership
roles during certain projects.
(01:57):
Team members who know that theyare committed and they are
professional are more likely tolisten to suggestions to help
improve their work.
So whenever I thought aboutthis subject, I thought about
Sir Richard Branson, and he hasa wonderful quote train people
well enough so they can leave.
Treat them well enough so theydon't want to.
(02:19):
And really, if you're inleadership, you're trying to
find people that can take yourplace.
That whole idea of successionplanning, building your bench if
any of those words meananything, then you're dealing
with an organization thatunderstands that they have a
future.
So, to that point, what does itmean?
(02:43):
In order to develop for growth,one provide opportunities to
lead and develop.
One way to do this is toregularly ask for input and
demonstrate that you are open todiverse ideas.
See who speaks up and offersthoughtful ideas on how they
would improve the status quo andoffers thoughtful ideas on how
(03:05):
they would improve the statusquo.
You could also offer employeesthe opportunity to host a
meeting to gain experience, oryou could assign individuals to
be a go-to expert on specifictopics or skills Another way to
(03:31):
prepare people to commit to thegrowth of the individual.
Communicate with transparency.
Communicate with transparencyto share information freely.
Only when they have theinformation can employees make
sound decisions on how they cancontribute and step up in your
leadership roles.
(03:51):
To identify potentialenthusiasts, you can
specifically ask them during oneof the conversations, or maybe
during performance evaluationsin which the areas that they
would like to develop themselvesand whether they would
potentially see themselves in aleadership position in the
future.
Employees feel empowered whentime and resources have been
(04:16):
invested in their growth.
They start to feel themselvesas an integral part of the
organization, and this is whereyou can encourage them to lead
from the front.
The ever-famous quote that Ithink is important for any
leader is to understand lead byexample, leading by example and
(04:39):
the model of desired behavior iscritical.
The model of desired behavioris critical.
Modeling is believing in thefoundation for the leader to
influence and to be used topersuade employees to act in a
certain way.
So if you want your employeesto invest in themselves and
participate in developmentprograms, you should openly
(05:02):
promote this yourself andparticipate.
Setting an example includesshowing that you can take care
of yourself.
Engaging in daily servantleadership behavior can come at
a cost for leaders.
One study shows that theservant leadership can be
(05:24):
mentally depleting, specificallyfor leaders who are low in
perspective-taking or having athe ability to be self-aware.
That is, that you really needto be able to step back and make
an assessment of who you areand what you've done and the
necessary steps that you need inorder to recharge yourself.
(05:46):
But all those things that areassociated with leadership, the
things that are servingleadership, is the healing and
the awareness and the persuasionand stewardship, and really it
comes down to how well can youcommunicate and are you giving
(06:07):
an example to follow?
Greg, I think you have a littlebit more of a perspective.
How does the HR world kind ofapply this?
Thanks, John.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
So we look at it as providing targeted development
opportunities.
Mentorship and coaching Not oneor the other, but both.
Pair potential leaders withexperienced mentors who can
offer guidance.
They can offer insights andthey can offer support.
Implement coaching programs toaddress specific challenges,
enhance leadership capabilitiesand promote self-awareness.
(06:39):
Mentors can share knowledge,expand networks and advocate for
mentees.
Coaching focuses on enhancingcurrent performance and
addressing specific issues, anda combination of coaching and
mentoring may be most beneficialfor comprehensive leadership
development.
So let's talk about careerpathing and planning and a
(07:01):
little bit of an HR example hereof HR career paths, so you can
imagine the different thingsthat you can do in human
resources.
It's not just hiring anymore.
You can start off in employeecompensation and benefits, work
your way up into recruitment andtraining, go over to people and
culture and diversity,compliance, employee relations
lots of different things.
If you're trying to become aleader in HR milestones and
(07:32):
qualifications for advancements,regularly discuss career
aspirations with employees andhelp them identify opportunities
within the organization.
Whether you're doing oneperformance review a year or two
a year or three, make sure thatevery time you talk to the
employee in what I call aserious discussion about their
performance, talk to them abouttheir career aspirations right.
It shouldn't just be once ayear when you think about it.
Implement programs like jobrotation or try promotions to
(07:55):
provide employees with dueexperiences and responsibilities
.
John.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know, just to step back for a second.
Whenever you're having thosecareer discussions, I always
found it, as you know, once ayear is what they talk about is
performance reviews, and Ialways change it to career
discussions.
But it should be something thatyou talk about quarterly.
There's, there's the, theexchange and making sure what
are you doing, how are weadvancing, what do we know?
What else do we need to do?
(08:20):
That engagement needs to be.
Often it's sort of likewatering the plant.
You want, you don't want towater the plant once a year.
The more that you can bring itinto the conversation, the more
that you're going to get theresults that you're hoping for.
Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So that's good, John.
In fact, it reminds me of mylast company.
We actually met with employeesfour times a year.
We encourage them to meet moreoften than that, but recently
you said four times a year.
And we talk about what they'redoing well, what they can do
better, what kind of support dothey need?
Then it's always kind of in therotation and that's what you
want.
You're not trying to surpriseanybody or catch somebody doing
something wrong.
Exactly, let's talk aboutpromoting internal mobility.
(08:59):
A lot of companies have jobboards internally.
They have processes for postingfor jobs, whatever.
But if you prioritize internalhiring and establish a
transparent process promotingfrom within, people love it
Again, back with retention, backwith their own investment in
your company, you can't beat it.
John.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And the word that's most important transparent.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yes, yes, no bait and switch, no hide the plum job
underneath the file cabinetright.
Clearly communicate availableopportunities and provide
resources to help employeesprepare for new roles.
I have found that even ifemployees say you know, I wasn't
really eligible for that job ormaybe that's not my cup of tea,
they got excited that the jobswere posted and they could see
(09:44):
what was out there and they wereexcited for working for an
organization that was doing that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And then the next one cultivating a culture of
continuous learning and growth.
Exactly, and then the next one.
Cultivating a culture ofcontinuous learning and growth.
Encourage a growth mindset thatvalues challenges and learning
from experiences, meaning youcan make some mistakes.
You don't want to make the samemistake multiple times, but you
learn a lot from mistakes.
You want a company that'sthinking about real seriously
(10:11):
supporting work-life balance andoffering wellness programs to
prevent burnout and promoteoverall well-being, because this
is a lot of work trying to getyourself promoted, trying to
take on more responsibility,taking care of your current job
Guess what?
You've got life outside of this.
You know what's the companydoing to help make sure you can
get that balance and make sureyou can keep yourself fresh in
that.
And then promote diversity,equity and inclusion to create a
workplace where all employeesfeel valued and have an equal
opportunity to advance.
(10:32):
And to create a workplace whereall employees feel valued and
have an equal opportunity toadvance, and I can't say it any
better than that.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
No, I mean, would you find some of these
organizations that I worked forbecome such silos and that fixed
mindset that they've lost theability to see the creativity of
bringing in people with diversebackgrounds in order to try to
expand what they can do?
That creativity from differentperspectives is really what
(10:58):
gives, I think, us products, usmarkets, the biggest areas of
growth, because we're not in asingle mind.
We're always looking forsomething that's different.
The entrepreneurial spirit isreally what you're looking for.
You're not looking for someother requirement, you're
looking for people who want tobe engaged.
That's the key and I guess I'mtrying to pull this all together
(11:25):
the benefits of pulling someoneup in terms of leadership
development To improve employeeengagement and retention.
Employees feel valued ininvestment when they're
investing in their growth andleading to higher morale and
reduced turnover.
Stronger leadership pipelineOrganizations that develop a
(11:48):
pool of capable internalcandidates readily are able to
be filling positions as they areneeded.
Which I find interesting isthat organizations that do this
other companies know that andthey sometimes steal, but you're
still developing people andthey're still advancing.
There's still that joy ofhelping them take that next step
.
Enhance succession planningSmooth leadership transitions
(12:14):
are possible when people areprepared and there's a talent
pool to pull from and there's adefined path on how to get that
promotion.
All these things are importantin terms of communication that
if you're not doing and thoseplans are happening in secret,
you're not helping your internalcandidates taking that next
step.
Increase organizationalperformance.
(12:36):
Effective leaders driveproductivity, innovation and
strategic execution.
The employees that you havethat are actually accomplishing
that are the ones that youshould be looking for leadership
, but making sure that theyunderstand the soft skills as
well as the business side of theequation.
The last point is probably themost important point is creating
(12:58):
a positive work environment ora positive company culture, a
culture where growth,cooperation and learning is
fostered, making theorganization more attractive to
new talent, more attractive tonew talent.
So I kind of like this wholearticle on how it pulls a lot of
the things that are associatedwith what leadership means and
(13:21):
leadership development and howto get somebody ready for their
next opportunity, and sometimesit's been the part that has been
hard to communicate from ourpodcast and we've been asked
those kinds of questions.
I have a really good example ofmy attempt at trying to help
someone specifically In my firstmanagement role I was
(13:43):
overseeing company expansion anddesign and development and was
also responsible for facilitymanagement and coordinating with
the architectural andcontracting teams.
For facility management andcoordinating with the
architectural and contractingteams, I had one supervisor
(14:05):
reporting to me and quicklylearned that he was respected,
skilled and had been passed overfor the position that I now
held.
That dynamic made for a verytense start, to put it mildly.
The resentment was real and hisfrustration with me was
directed personally.
When he found out how open Iwas and communicative in terms
of style, it was refreshingcompared to what he had
experienced before.
Still, that discomfort lingered.
(14:29):
So I did something that wasunexpected as a new manager.
I invited him to lunch and awayfrom the usual workplace
tension.
I asked him candidly why was heso angry?
He opened up about the yearsthat he had missed promotions,
the countless interviews and theunfinished education that was
taking a toll.
He was still working on tryingto complete his bachelor's
(14:51):
degree but had changed majorsand therefore still needed
another year or two to finish.
After listening, I made uppromise that I would help make
his education path a priorityand that within a year he will
graduate.
I believe he was ready for theadvancement already and I
(15:13):
couldn't believe why the companyhad passed him by.
Unfortunately, I had theopportunity, but he was
qualified for the position andif the organization wasn't ready
to accept him that we wouldwork on trying to find him
another place to work.
Well, he was stunned, but hetook the leap.
(15:33):
Well, he was stunned but hetook the leap and at the end of
the day he was able to finishhis bachelor's degree within a
matter of like six months.
Since time had passed and weweren't able to advance him, he
landed a managerial positionwith another company and thrived
.
I wish I could have kept him,but the growth within our
(15:56):
department it wasn't possible atthat time.
The experience really revealeda deeper issue how siloed
thinking and stifled talent inthe industry, like manufacturing
or facilities, is reallytowards organizations like the
facility team or thehousekeeping team or other kind
(16:16):
of departments, and there aretalented people that can move
into those roles and cross-train.
Supporting and developingpeople and fostering teams and
seeing people grow beyond theircurrent roles is really where
the fun of leadership comes in.
Greg, you have an example ofapplying and helping somebody,
(16:39):
pulling them up through theranks.
I do.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
John, I have a couple , but I'm going to say the
second one because the first oneI was still learning.
I was a younger manager and Idefinitely made some mistakes.
Unfortunately, the person whowas being promoted filled in the
gaps, and that's okay.
Learning that I applied laterin life.
So my last couple of jobscompanies worked for were
looking at a pretty senior HRposition reporting to me.
(17:02):
But we knew that I was probablygoing to be doing something
different and not too far downthe line, and so we brought a
person in, qualified for therole that they were in, and I
sat down as I started thinkingabout their aspirations and what
they could do, what my bossalso thought they could do, and
I put together a plan to helpclose the gap.
So here's your regular job.
You've got to make that happen,but on the side we're going to
(17:24):
do these things.
And so I put together a 90-dayprogram of activities whether
there were board meetings to goto or staff meetings and how I
ran them and what I was tryingto accomplish, and check-ins and
checkpoints and that sort of me.
The company was growing andgoing and needed some
personality.
This individual didn't have tohave my sense of humor, right,
(17:52):
it wasn't required.
It just probably wasn'tnecessary.
It wasn't desired either.
But, having said that, theyneeded to be their own person,
but they needed to know whatthey needed to know to be
successful.
So, for instance, one thing Icreated was a list of unwritten
rules.
Here's some things that you'renot going to find in a manual or
the employee handbook, but I'mhere to tell you, in the role
you're probably going to go into, these are things you need to
(18:14):
be on the lookout for.
I'm going to tell you beforesomebody else tells you, and I
thought that was really, reallyimportant to do.
I remember taking this person toa business dinner and I was
tired and we were kind of doneand people were starting to
leave and I said, oh, you know,go ahead and sit.
She goes.
Nope, I'm not going to stay.
If you're not going to stay,and I thought about it.
I said, yeah, great, that was.
You know, you should stickaround a little more, right?
(18:36):
Part of this experience isn'tjust dumping the person off and
hoping they figure it out rightor maybe embarrass themselves or
be in a disadvantage situation.
So I'm glad I stayed and threwthat dinner and made sure we
walked out to the car together,whatever to the cars, but it's
really a lot of imparting onthem things to help them be
successful.
And if you take that attitude,saying I want you to be not as
(18:59):
good as me, probably better thanme, and I want to leave the
future of my department in thehands of someone that is going
to do a great job and can takethem to the next level, and that
was the attitude I had.
So I poured that into the planI had for them to be successful
in the job.
And for the last thing, I heardperson's doing very well in the
role and has really made someadvancements and I couldn't be
happier.
But that first experience, whenI kind of went through the
(19:22):
motions, taught me a lot aboutdon't go through the motions, be
deliberate.
Lot about don't go through themotions, be deliberate, put a
plan together, check, trust andverify, observe, offer candid
feedback and it worked out to bea successful situation.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I think helping others to grow in their
positions and grow in theircareers is where you really find
the satisfaction.
That I found when I was working.
I think you've said the samething.
That's why we wanted to do thispodcast and it's the part that
we really enjoy the most is,hopefully these hints and these
(19:59):
ideas strike a bell and willhelp you in terms of your job
and I hope you find the pleasureof helping people and seeing
their career grow because ofyour influence.
So, if you like what you'veheard, yeah, I wrote a book
(20:20):
called Building your LeadershipToolbox and it talks about a lot
of the things that we'retalking about in terms of
communication and helping others.
You're listening to our podcastand I appreciate it, whatever
format it is.
We're also available on Appleand Spotify and others.
Greg and I often referenceManagement by Responsibility by
(20:40):
Dr Durst.
His information and his programis available on
successgrowthacademycom.
Program is available onsuccessgrowthacademycom.
If you'd like to contact us, myemail address is wando75.jw at
gmailcom and, greg, I can bereached at gpowell374 at
gmailcom.
(21:00):
Yeah, and the music is broughtto you by my grandson, so we
want to hear from you.
We appreciate your, your input.
It has helped us with ourprogram and it's actually kind
of fun to hear what we'veactually come across and people
like.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
so thanks, greg thanks, john, as always next
time yeah.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.