Who's responsible for developing leaders?

How many times have you heard, “How did that person end up being my boss?” or “How did she ever get into a leadership position?” Recently, I spoke to a group of graduate students about generations in the workplace and a member of Gen Y asked, “Shouldn’t my boss be a leader and even a mentor?” My response was, “Yes, absolutely.” However, many organizations are not developing their leaders.

In fact, many leaders are promoted based on their expertise, instead of their ability to lead people. It’s not about the tasks: it’s about leading people. As organizations promote and think about their succession plan, it is key that they have a leadership development program in place. Today, we have seen many training and leadership programs be cut from the budget. This is a mistake. As a result, there are many unhappy and unmotivated employees. They need leadership during the challenging changes that organizations are undergoing today.

I’m proud to say that EPI is launching a front line leadership program nation-wide with a Denver based company. To hear more about what we’re doing, log on to my next blog.