Develop your leaders and you’ll become stronger and faster than your competition. You’ll also uncover at least two benefits that could help improve performance ten times over.

Setting the stage to gain a leadership development edge

Enterprise Holdings, promoted 20,000 people within this 100,000 person organization in 2022. Enterprise starts with management training. Even their current CEO, Chrissy Taylor, went through that program to learn business management and customer service skills.

Chrissy emphasizes a focus on innovation as a key to the future of mobility and travel. Innovation does not thrive in a management-only culture, which focuses on doing things right, not doing things differently. Innovation happens when leaders make change, and mistakes, for progress ok.

How are you preparing the leaders of your organization for the future?

How are you preparing your future leaders?

If you are like most, you offer management skills training (such as delegation, motivation, problem-solving, time management, and performance measurement). That’s needed, yet not enough.

Leadership, not management, is the driving force for a great future.

True leadership, not management, inspires people to commit to a shared vision and strategy. It’s leadership that brings out the courage in others to step up and speak out. If leadership is such a force, why keep it to only the top positions in your organization? Spread that power and propel your organization towards a brighter future.

 The aim of leadership development

Leadership development helps people take charge of their own growth, envision the future, and embrace change and innovation. It encompasses creating a compelling vision and strategy, mastering effective communication, inspiring commitment and adaptability, strengthening the organization, and making informed decisions for the future.

 Another advantage from developing your leaders: alignment

As you develop leadership competency and character, you will see alignment strengthen. Full alignment: between strategy and each role, and between a role and what an individual in that role wants for themselves.

Be patient and don’t stop paying attention to alignment. Improvement may not be instant. If the attention to development is new, there may be struggle before performance improves.

For example, individuals may be in roles that don’t fit them, and they’ll start speaking up about it. Or, it may take a bit before team leaders have the courage and caring to help a team member move on, and up.

Enterprise tackled the employee “hoarding” that other businesses like theirs face, through their promotional philosophy. Shelley Roither, Enterprise Holdings’ senior vice president of global human resources, shared with Fortune that for a manager to advance, they have to demonstrate that they’ve successfully promoted employees up and out of their team.

As alignment strengthens, so does your organization. Those who are committed to the vision, stay, grow, and give their best.

Leadership development requires coaching

No one can learn leadership in a 2 day skills-training class. Senior leaders can model the way. Coaches can help a leader grow and leading effectively in their own way.

Your best next step

For “Your 1 Best Next Step,” take a moment to reflect: Are you developing as a leader? Is your organization prioritizing leadership development?