It might seem like some people are natural born leaders, while others have to work hard at becoming one. At Alexandria Industries, every employee has the potential and the opportunity to be a great leader.
Think of leadership as a verb. It is an action word. We must do something to make it happen.
Leadership is taking the initiative to help someone. It is seeing something that needs to be fixed, and fixing it. Sharing a personal experience with a colleague so they can learn more about you, or learn from your experience. This is opening yourself up to leadership!
Leadership is Not a Title
For some people, just hearing the words “leadership training” can push them anxiously outside of their comfort zone.
At Alexandria Industries, our leadership training programs are designed to help employees recognize their inner-leadership styles, learn easy-to-use leadership tools, and choose ways they can apply their leadership style in their everyday interactions.
Our most recently created leadership training program, Leadership Essentials, is specifically designed to put employees at ease and learn to believe they can be a leader, regardless of any inhibitions they may have about leading others.
Leadership Essentials teaches us that “leadership” is not a title. It is driven by the ways we choose to interact with people during our daily work. It shows us that effective communication is the foundation of every great leadership style. And we learn that leadership is based on trust and respect. It is ours to grow or destroy.
Breaking Down Barriers
Our fabrication team was the first group that chose to participate in the Leadership Essentials training program.
Before training, team members were struggling with some employee changeover, feeling somewhat like they were strangers working in silos and unable to effectively communicate with each other.
Using experiential learning, role-playing and fun games, the team broke through their communication barriers, generated mutual respect, and developed trust among each other and the team as a whole. The rewards can be seen in the ways the employees have become more self-aware in how they relate to their teammates. They are finding productive ways to help each other, while effectively managing difficult situations.
The rewarding experience has prompted some participants to volunteer for more advanced leadership training programs.
Our Leadership Essentials training program is rapidly expanding to other groups, and teams at our other facilities.
If you are interested in learning more about our leadership training programs, please contact Lynette Kluver, director of organizational development, Alexandria Industries: lkluver@alexandriaindustries.com.