As a leader, you are vital to the success of your organization. Between hiring and retaining great talent, fostering a culture of connection and belonging, and providing direction and encouragement, much of your responsibility revolves around helping your employees reach their full potential — without which success is impossible. Unfortunately, however, the reality of the global workforce paints a different picture: 79% of employees are disengaged in their jobs or lacking agency or ownership over their own decisions, resulting in a $7.8 trillion loss in productivity. The top reason for this disengagement? Lack of leadership training.

An SHRM study says 84% of employees claim that poorly trained managers are the reason for added work and stress. Their experience and, ultimately, their productivity is in your hands. Furthermore, 50% of employees in the SHRM study believe their performance would improve if their direct supervisor completed leadership training.

Leadership training is an accessible, affordable, and effective solution to strengthen your leadership skills and yield more robust results from your employees. Consider these top five reasons for leadership training and invest in yourself, your team, and your organization today.

1) Discover Who You Are as a Leader

Many leaders rise to the responsibility out of tenure or a promotion from a non-managerial role. However, even with good intentions and invaluable skills, you may need to become more familiar and comfortable with your leadership style, affecting how you show up daily.

Believe it or not, it is possible to learn leadership. Leadership training will help you look inward to discover how your values, beliefs, and experiences influence your leadership style. Then you can discover how to leverage your unique style to unlock your team’s potential. Now is your time to shine as a leader within and beyond your current role.

2) Learn New Solutions to Existing Problems

Between the Great Resignation, the ongoing pandemic, and recession uncertainty, today’s socioeconomic landscape is full of unprecedented challenges for leaders. The competitive labor market, social and political disruption, increases in the cost of living, focus on employee well-being, and flexible working environments are all testing the ability to find and retain great talent. As a leader, you must face these challenges head-on. You’ve tried to solve them a hundred times in a hundred ways, but nothing seems to be budging.

While the problems are familiar, their solutions are not. Finding ways to overcome them requires new approaches. Leadership training allows you to take a step back and gain new perspectives and ideas you never knew were possible. Take your learning a step further and apply it to real-life situations.

3) Improve Your Communication Skills

Simply put, effective leadership requires effective communication. Trade Press Services reports that 85% of employees are most motivated by effective internal communications, including regular company updates, vision and goals, and clear job descriptions. However, 69% of managers feel discomfort in communicating with their employees.

As a leader, you’re responsible for ensuring an open and transparent two-way flow of communication built on trust and accountability. The shift to an increasingly remote environment has introduced new communication demands. What used to be a quick and convenient conversation at the water cooler now requires a more concerted effort.

Even if this soft skill comes naturally to you, there is always room for improvement. Leadership training can help you identify and strengthen your communication skills, including verbal to nonverbal, active listening, and feedback, all of which foster greater collaboration, engagement, and agency among your team.

4) Elevate Your Empathy

Leading with empathy, or the ability to be aware of and understand the needs, feelings, and thoughts of others, is another soft skill that directly impacts business results. In fact, some claim it’s the most necessary leadership skill of all. Being empathetic means seeing others as exactly who they are, the whole person, rather than only the employee. A Forbes study revealed that 76% of people who received empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged, compared to 32% engagement of those who received less empathy.

Making your employees feel genuinely seen and valued will help motivate and inspire them to do their best work. Leadership training can guide you in this area, especially if you’re someone for whom this inclination does not come naturally. And especially given the increasing demands of today’s workforce, empathy will continue to play a critical and direct role in the success of any business.

5) Strengthen Team Culture

Engagement in the workplace is far more than meeting your tangible job expectations. It’s about feelings of genuine connection and belonging. Organizational values, work-life balance, growth opportunities, and recognition are all important aspects of culture that play into connection and belonging. As you have probably guessed, you as a leader are hugely influential in cultivating that culture.

When your organization invests in leadership training, it not only sends the message to employees that leadership cares about their well-being, it proves it. It puts money where your mouth is and is the first step to improving organization-wide issues. In addition, the benefits from the training ripple into other parts of the organization, enhancing overall team culture and, subsequently, business value.

Begin Your Leadership Training With The Eighth Mile

Anyone can become a leader. Becoming an effective one, however, takes time and intention. And before you can unlock your team’s potential, you need to unlock your own. Whether you’re a new or seasoned leader, there has never been a better time to enroll in leadership training. It all starts with one step. Elevate your leadership with Eight Mile Consulting’s 8-week online personal development and leadership course. Invest in yourself, because you’re worth it–and so are your employees.