This week I have been quite busy with an invention festival, which was a place to introduce many different innovative ideas and new technologies. The youth and younger entrepreneurs introduced new products and inventions in healthcare, robotics, IT, biotech, and other fields. Some of the inventions were well developed and had high commercialization potential. Nonetheless, what I want to discuss in this post is not innovative ideas, but the leadership of an individual.
In my tour in the festival, something interesting captured my eyes. A group of students aged approximately 12 to14 with their invention. I stopped by their stand and saw a device, which was a simple waste sorting solution. One of the team members seemed to be in a leader position and on my request for an explanation he started to pitch their gadget. His talent of presentation at his age was remarkable but what impressed me was when I asked him to pose for a picture next to their gadget. He right away responded:
We are a team of four. Please let me ask the other three members to join.
He then called his other teammates to come and pose for my picture. I was impressed. I found him more professional than many people I meet in my daily business life. He, at the age of 14, completely understands the teamwork environment and respects other team member.
In a previous post, The Golden Eagle Farm: A Solution to Boost the Economy, I discussed the golden eagle farm as a platform to help people with Golden Eagle mind-set and let them help our economy. When I encountered this team and saw the leadership skill of the boy, I was thinking about his future. Is he going to be guided correctly? Could his leadership potential be explored or will be trapped into some other opportunities?
The business world can learn from some strategies implemented by sport managers. In the sport management, especially soccer, after exploring a talented individual, the club makes a long-term engagement through a contract and helps the person better promote his skill. This is less common in the business world, though.
Lack of leadership is one of the main reasons behind companies’ failures these days. This flaw in the leadership skills of top managers imposes the firms more costs, from which the change in key employees and low retention rate of employees weigh more.
According to Gallup, in 2014 only 31.5% of employees engaged, which means about 69% have not been committed to their work. Lack of leadership in management position is the main reason behind this figure. Good leaders are important for companies to make the current employees more active and engage them more in their work. Employees who believe in their leaders are the best tools for top leaders to achieve company’s goals. When employees believe in the leader, they work harder to be more productive and help the leader as well. In this case, the situation is a win-win, a situation that only good leaders can erect.