Some might say that I am extreme for caring about developing leaders. However, at BioZyme®, leadership development is just another part of the “care that comes full circle.” It doesn’t matter if it is your local 4-H club, fraternity, sports team or a Fortune 500 company, if you don’t have properly trained leaders in the driver’s seat, you will ultimately fail.
“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else—through hard work.” — Vince Lombardi
Some argue that leaders are born. I don’t agree. One person might be born with more natural leadership tendencies than another, but leadership traits are developed and refined over time. That’s why two of our four values tie directly to leadership development: outreach and inspiration.
You might ask how being inspired builds leaders? It is proven that individuals who score higher on their inspiration scale accomplish more than others and have a stronger drive to master their work. They are naturally more motivated, confident and creative. At BioZyme, we strive to have a culture full of highly inspired people.
The other value – Outreach – is one we have invested countless resources in, and we are excited to continue this mission. Since 2008, BioZyme has supported young people by sponsoring and providing an educational theme at numerous junior national shows held each summer. BioZyme launched the Live It, Love It, Lead It initiative as a part of this effort in 2016.
The Live it, Love It, Lead It program’s mission is to intentionally grow leaders for the production livestock industry. The theory is that these already hard-working youth are developing the leadership traits that are cherished by BioZyme – a bias for action, a passion for continuous improvement and a belief in care that comes full circle. If we pointed out those traits and helped them intentionally focus on them, we would be growing leaders that BioZyme could 1) recruit as future employees or 2) prepare as leaders for our industry. It was always Bob’s dream to have one of these young junior exhibitors and Sure Champ® customers make it to the Oval Office someday.
The program continues inside BioZyme as we develop our intentional leadership development program. We know that we have some of the best employees in the business, but we must continue to grow them into leaders. We want them to lead BioZyme. And we want them to represent BioZyme and lead other industry organizations effectively.
At BioZyme, we believe building effective leaders is best accomplished by focusing on nine competencies. These competencies fit into the three categories, Live It, Love It, Lead It.
The Live It competencies are all ones that an effective leader must live each and every day.
• Care that comes full circle
• Effective communication
• Self-awareness
The Love It competencies are things that are hard, but the leader knows they must love to do them and share that passion throughout their team.
• Structure, systems & processes
• Innovation & improvement
• Results-balance
The Lead It competencies must be intentionally part of the leader’s inner core, ensuring they happen to keep the organization passionate and sustainable.
• Drives action
• Quality decisions
• Inspired accountability
Leadership is growth, and growth doesn’t happen overnight. Watch for more about the Live It, Love It, Lead It program and how we are growing leaders through our Sure Champ outreach efforts and Building Effective Leaders internally.
I challenge each dealer to think about their leadership skills and how they can grow and develop them.