Great leaders use communication to share information and to inspire. They inspire people to perform, to dream, to create, and to buy in to an organization’s common vision, mission, and core values.

I have heard it said many times that the greatest asset of any company is its employees. I agree, but I don’t think that statement alone tells the whole story. Let me explain.

Successful companies have a positive public perception, commonly called a “good reputation.” People believe either in the company as a whole or, at least, in its products. So why do companies like Buc-ee’s, GoDaddy, Adobe Software, and Gravity Payments, have such a positive public perception? They focus on their people more than their products. The rest takes care of itself.

As a leader, are you defining the values of the company and instilling those values in the people? Are you teaching them to care about and focus on the right things? Company and individual values do not define how work gets done, but it determines where one should focus their attention and to some degree it determines the order of work. Great leaders understand and define the company’s values, they instill those values in the workforce, which translates to growth in the value of the company and its products.

Great leaders do not change things just to do it differently, or to “put their stamp” on a process. Leaders innovate to make it better for the company and the people they lead. I have seen many new CEOs take over a company and start changing things without ever understanding what they were changing or why it was done that way in the first place. That is simply change for the sake of change. It accomplishes nothing and often does more harm than good.

Now, here is the good news. Within almost every organization there are people with the capacity to create, the capacity to innovate, and the capacity to inspire. Identifying them can be hard, but those are your future leaders. Find them and nurture them.

Ongoing professional development - with the possible exception of mandated safety and compliance education - is one of the most overlooked processes in the business world. The good news is that this problem can be easily addressed with a professional development strategy.

Many employees don’t keep their skillset current? Is that the fault of the employee? Maybe. Is that the fault of leadership? Again, the answer is maybe. Leaders must encourage and support ongoing career and skill development. But the employee must also be willing to accept that fact that things change very rapidly and they must continue their education, continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to develop and perfect new skills.