We recently had the opportunity to provide three separate sessions as part of a large client's "Professional Development Days" curriculum. Two were based on keynote presentations we've shared with thousands of people over the years but the final session was a variation of a lesson from our "Leading At The Next Level" program, likely back in 2021 or 2022, that we've only shared publicly a time or two. To our surprise, that session was packed... While I can't share it all here, this will hopefully serve as a solid starting point you can use for "Setting Priorities" that help you create systems that yield great results.

If you'd like access to the entire lesson, and a chance to check any of the other 150+ lessons in our Leading At The Next Level program, here's a link you can use to get a 14-day trial for just $1, then get 80% OFF the monthly membership price FOREVER! Every lesson in the digital platform has been approved for recertification credit through the Society or Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Certification Institute, and we deliver new live lessons each month. https://www.dove-development.net/offers/QsP4N3K6/checkout

Also, you'll likely notice a reference here to the science behind the DISC Model of Human Behavior. If you've never completed a scientifically validated DISC assessment, you can learn more about that at https://www.dove-development.net/EffectiveCommunication

And you're always welcome to reach out to us at admin@dove-development.net with any questions.

As we looked at the cost of a poor promotion, I shared stories about a few different rock star employees I had worked with over the years. One of them had been an assembly line lead for nearly four decades but refused even to consider taking the next step into a supervisory or management role. Another was as knowledgeable as anyone I ever knew about every piece of equipment in the department he worked in but struggled mightily when he moved into a team lead role for that same department. I realize both examples were from a manufacturing environment, but I’m willing to bet you can picture similar examples in any industry you’re currently in!

At some point in our leadership journey, we’ll all face the reality that not every outstanding performer on our teams will be interested in climbing the company ladder. And as hard as accepting that will sometimes be, our challenge then becomes helping them be the best they can be right where they are AND providing them with the tools they’ll need to pass their expertise on to the team members coming behind them. While some folks may not be interested in chasing or accepting promotions, that doesn’t mean they’re not a critical part of our succession planning process!

While I still fancy myself as a decent carpenter, and I could probably teach you how to operate a 250-ton stamping press to make the blanks that get rolled into tubes for inside a muffler, Cindy and I have been very intentional about not giving the perception that we’re the people to teach the technical skills necessary in any industry. In most cases, you’ll have experts in-house who can do that. And even if that’s not the case, I’m doubtful I have the time at this point in my life to be the technical expert you need. But we have helped the experts in the organizations we’re working with become incredibly effective at passing on what they’ve worked so long to learn. There have been a few cases where those folks have been supervisors or managers who had already completed our Emerging Leader Development course. Still, the most significant need for this has been with those without interest in those positions.

Either way, our approach to Developing Effective Trainers combines much of what we provide to help leaders communicate more effectively with the concepts I detailed before for having tough conversations. We add a healthy dose of the necessary steps for earning influence and buy-in, so anyone receiving the training is actually willing to listen without having their lives threatened!

For more on this, you're welcome to reach out to us directly at admin@dove-development.net to get a 45 Day Trial Access to our COMPLETE Leading At The Next Level program or you can check out Wes's first book, What's KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!) that was a #1 Best Seller on Amazon!

Early in this process, we looked at two separate profitability killers that nearly always feed off each other and contribute to just about every metric a company tracks: the cost of high turnover and the cost of constant recruiting. In far too many cases, the responsibility for each lands squarely in the lap of someone in the human resources department. When that person takes even the slightest bit of initiative, they’ll work their tail off to produce the results their team needs. I say that with confidence because I’ve been the one to carry that responsibility for a few different organizations.

Several times through this process, I’ve referenced hiring 225 new employees in eighteen months for one facility, and the total head count increased only by about ten. As we looked at steps leaders could take to address the cost of an unaccountable workforce, I even shared how 150 of those 225 were for one specific job title, a role that likely had the most direct impact on the overall quality of the products our customers depended on. You may think this was an isolated example that couldn’t possibly impact your company’s bottom line the same way, and as this was the first role where I held direct and complete responsibility for the hiring process, I couldn’t imagine that this same thing could be going on anywhere else either. I was dead wrong!

In nearly every organization I’ve worked with since, whether through providing support for their HR and recruiting needs or through the resources we’ve shared with the entire leadership team, I’ve seen pockets that showed nearly identical patterns. While the numbers weren’t nearly as exaggerated, the ratios were eerily similar, primarily due to most of those companies having much lower overall head counts. I’d argue that the costs made even more of a dent in the overall profitability since those smaller organizations didn’t have as much room to absorb them.

For more on this, you're welcome to reach out to us directly at admin@dove-development.net to get a 45 Day Trial Access to our COMPLETE Leading At The Next Level program or you can check out Wes's first book, What's KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!) that was a #1 Best Seller on Amazon!