Guiding the leaders of tomorrow is the most valuable way in which today’s managers can invest their time. This is because as they lead, guide and grow these up-and-coming talents, they are setting their own organization on the path to future success. However, hospitality managers must first set an example themselves by making an exceptional personal commitment to excellence in leadership. By doing so, they are forging a path for tomorrow’s young leaders to follow.
1-Start with yourself
Relentless personal commitment to growth is the primary starting point. Every manager must dedicate time and effort every day to becoming a better person, no excuses or delays. Getting better at who you are will make you more effective and efficient. Build rituals that create excellence within, so that as you face external challenges, you are able to provide a calm, focused and wise response. We are either growing or dying, getting stronger or weaker. If we are not committed to our own growth, then we will not have much to offer tomorrow’s leaders. It is we, the current leaders, who set the pace. We must embrace the understanding that we will see only a reflection of our own efforts within those who follow us.
2-Give important tasks to others
Expanding your time to undertake valuable activities is only possible if others are carrying the burden with you. Every person that participates in your activities is a person that you are training to lead. By giving, measuring and following up with team members you are preparing them to become leaders who are mature, ready to share and who are practiced in the art of embracing others. The how is not as important as the what, and the what will only appear from the why. All of this can often only be understood through building participation in key action points. A courageous and fearless approach to raising talented people to become the new leaders is noble and admirable. It must form part of the core activities of every existing leader.
3-Learn to listen
The greatest leaders are the ones that listen and this lesson must be handed on to those who are being prepared to take the reins. The ideal scenario features a willing and passionate individual with a willing mentor who is skilled in asking questions and listening. This will create a first class feedback loop, where all parties grow together and new leaders naturally emerge.
4-Engage with sincerity
There are several advantages to removing the invisible work/life, professional/personal barriers and engaging with people authentically as whole individuals. The majority of today’s managers and leaders had only a general idea of what they wanted to attain when they began their careers within the industry. As current leaders, we must reach out to our people in genuine ways that make others feel highly valued. They need to feel that their role contributes to the success of the organization and that the organization is there to support them in times of need. Leaders who work to encourage and build their teams will be setting an admirable pattern for future leaders to emulate.
5-Share your knowledge
We can only understand through experience, as can our future leaders. It is our duty and responsibility to pass on our knowledge, including our mistakes, to as many others as we can. This will enable them to grow and become the people to whom we are happy to hand the baton. We can then cheer them on confidently as they take the business to even greater success.
