With so much shifting around us, from budget changes and re-prioritization to industry disruption and world events, it can be far too easy to lose sight of the core of what we do as leadership development professionals.
Shortly after the beginning of the year, a leader in one of our programs reached out to us with some reflections on their progress, and thanked our facilitator for the profound impact she had on her as a leader.
Our why at FlashPoint, our vision, is more meaning at work. By establishing strong partnerships with our clients to deliver creative and measurable solutions to leaders, we create more meaning at work every day.
Just one shared email reminded me that we create more meaning at work through each and every leader who gains skills to better lead and manage those around them. Sharing leadership “wins,” or stories, helps others see both the impact of our work, and that they have an impact as a leader.
It’s not just the one leader, but every person they come into contact with – their vendors, their direct reports, their peers, their volunteer network, even their families in some cases!
So, I thought it could be a little Chicken Soup for the L&D Professional’s Soul to share some stories of leaders and highlight the outstanding leaders we work with, and our fantastic clients who support them.
Today’s story is of one leader who rolled up her sleeves to implement some behaviors from the LPI®: Leadership Practices Inventory®, from The Leadership Challenge® Workshop, and how it impacted her direct reports.
Our leader shared that in several of her recent one-on-one meetings with direct reports, she’s been practicing asking for feedback on how she can be a better leader by asking a simple question: "What can I do to help you do your job better?"
Not only were her staff surprised and grateful, but they felt listened to, and better able to meet their goals. Because of her participation in the program, she’s gained skills that help her develop her direct reports, helping them focus on new tasks and expanded responsibilities instead of time-intensive projects with systemic solutions. For example, our leader had a direct report who had expressed interest in a promotion, so she assigned some projects that will allow for their autonomy and management of the project from start to finish, instead of just portions or specific tasks within the project.
Not only is our leader seeing the benefit of having open feedback from her direct reports, but her direct reports are gaining opportunities to learn and grow and stretch their skills to contribute further and reach their goals.
And the “win” she shared with us? “Because of this program, I truly mean it when I say, ‘I can do this!’ … I like the leader I am now.”
We are incredibly grateful to be able to celebrate in this "win" with our client. We’ll share more stories from inspired leaders in the future, but we’d love to hear from you if you have a story to share!
One of the most impactful upcoming opportunities we share leadership wins is our upcoming open-enrollment session of The Leadership Challenge® Workshop.
Photo by Felipe Santana on Unsplash