It’s no secret that strong leadership skills can benefit people of all levels. So it follows that offering leadership activities for employees can boost both your employee experience and your bottom line.
When I was in high school, my teachers nominated me for an extracurricular activity called “Learning to Lead.”
It was exactly what it sounded like: a program where we learned to lead.
In one of the first sessions, they emphasized that there are different kinds of leaders. Some people lead a team, others lead by example. It was why some people seemed/felt like odd choices for the program.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to witness the different kinds of leaders in society. There are those who run businesses or teams, who are great at people management.
Those who consciously choose to be influential within society, a culture, an industry, or a business. They choose to become trendsetters and thought leaders within their circle through sharing their knowledge on social media, internal comms, or elsewhere.
Then there are those who lead by example, but not necessarily consciously. They show their colleagues the way to do things perhaps without ever saying it. They set the tone, atmosphere, and attitude for everything that’s going on around them.
To be successful, businesses need multiple kinds of leaders. And they need to support and encourage different kinds of leadership.
Unfortunately, 69% of millennials feel they haven’t had enough leadership development, and only 5% of businesses have implemented leadership development programs at every level.
So what sorts of leadership activities for employees can you implement to grow your team’s skills?
Employee groups
Employee groups are an effective way for team members to share their knowledge and meet like-minded people.
They allow employees with similar backgrounds to share their experiences and learnings, meaning their colleagues can (hopefully) avoid the same mistakes and pitfalls.
They also provide employees with some moral support when things get challenging. Plus, they can be a great venue for offering leadership activities for employees.
Of course, for employee groups to work, they first need to be effective. And unfortunately, many of them could be run better.
That’s where we come in.
Workrowd helps you manage your employee groups so that you, and your employees, can get the most from them. We make it easier than ever for your employees to network, so they can share their knowledge and develop their skills. Including through a slate of leadership activities for employees.
Get in touch today to book your free demo.
Coaching
Coaching is a powerful tool that enables employees to discuss their situations, goals, and challenges with someone unbiased.
Working with an external coach comes with the benefit that they’re detached from the company and situation, meaning they can offer objective feedback to a problem.
Coaches can also help leaders design a path toward their goals and hold them accountable to navigating it. They can even recommend some leadership activities for employees based on what they hear from team members.
Mentoring
Mentors can set examples for employees, particularly for those from underrepresented backgrounds. They show the employee that someone else from that background has done it before, and so they can, too.
They’ll inevitably have shared experiences that are different from those who don’t come from that background.
For example, an employee with an invisible illness will experience a workplace differently from someone who doesn’t have an invisible illness. This affects how they approach the workday in ways that their colleagues may not understand unless they’ve been there.
An employee with a shared experience can offer moral support and guidance, making obstacles feel less insurmountable and boosting the employee’s confidence. Supporting mentoring pairs with programming is also a great way to offer leadership activities for employees.
Reading
Never underestimate the power of a good book, whether it’s a physical book, audiobook, or e-book.
There are lots of great books out there on leadership. Some are classics that people still talk about years after publication. That would only be the case if they had something interesting/useful to say and leaders continued to learn from them.
Some examples include:
- Radical Candor – Kim Scott
- Start With Why – Simon Sinek
- Leadership Mindset 2.0 – R. Michael Anderson
Reading allows employees to learn at their own pace, take notes, and share their findings with their colleagues.
Books on psychology are also useful when it comes to management, as they teach leaders how to empathize with people from different backgrounds and understand the alternative ways that people can think.
This is something that’s key for someone to be a great leader, whatever their role. They can’t lead effectively if they can’t empathize with the people around them.
You could even create a leadership-focused book club where people can share their favorite reads and key takeaways! It’s a great, low-effort way to offer leadership activities for employees.
Training
Training workshops enable employees to disconnect from everyday duties and focus on learning new skills and strategies.
While these can be intense so aren’t suitable for everyone, the focused atmosphere and diverse participants (and hopefully diverse speakers if you host a longer event or do them regularly) allow employees to shake up their thinking patterns, learn new skills, and understand more about themselves and other people.
Training should be a core focus of your leadership activities for employees.
Team-building activities
I know, these can be cringeworthy. But hear me out before you judge.
When working with other people, employees naturally fall into roles and hierarchies, often without intending to.
Team building activities allow you to find who your natural leaders are. So then you don’t just get the folks who put themselves forward, you get the ones who naturally take charge and set examples, which aren’t always the same people.
These sorts of leadership activities for employees are also a way for people to hone their skills in a more practical environment. As opposed to the other options on this list which are more theoretical.
Alternatively, you could allocate roles to people, choosing who’s in charge, so that different employees get to try different roles. You can then find your natural leaders who may not volunteer to be in charge, but suit the position all the same.
Conclusion
Whatever someone’s current or future role is, the right leadership activities for employees can help them grow their technical and personal skills so that they can be more effective leaders.
Regardless of how long someone has been a leader for, there’s always something new to learn. That could be a new tool to try, a new psychological theory to get employees working better together, or a new activity that hones their skills.
The more leadership activities for employees you offer, the more future leaders you can support and the more diverse your leaders will be.
Ready to elevate your leadership activities for employees and boost participation organization-wide? You need Workrowd’s comprehensive tool suite.
With centralized access to all your leadership activities for employees, personalized dashboards, automated analytics, and more, you can cultivate leaders at every level.
Ready to learn more? Visit us online or reach out to us directly at hello@workrowd.com.
