Leaders come in all shapes and sizes and at all levels of an organization — formal and informal.

According to Indeed, an informal leader is “a colleague who’s well known for their intelligence, wisdom and interpersonal qualities. This person isn’t necessarily a high-ranking member of the organization, but others respect them and typically go to them for advice and knowledge about procedures.” 

In our company, we have a number of staff who fit that bill. Often they are individuals destined for larger roles. I trust the same is true at your business. 

Are those individuals ready for formal leadership? For many organizations, the succession planning discussion ought to be on the mid-level managers rising up to take the place of the graying workforce. Every single position in your dealership should have a succession plan, and your informal leaders are good candidates. 

Based on my experience in bringing along the next generation, I have 4 personal tips for today’s informal leaders who you need to start on their advancement journey. Use them as a talking point with those you’ve identified to begin to take your place.

1. Learn to Prioritize

One of the most important skills we must teach all employees is prioritization, which is non-negotiable for those you want to advance. When they look at their to-do list for the day, realism counts. If each customer visit requires an hour, you can’t get 15 customer visits done in an 8-hour day. 

Something we preach here is the Eisenhower Matrix (look it up). Adhering to the Eisenhower Matrix forces you to decide if a task is urgent or not urgent, and important or not important. Tasks that fall into urgent and important are the top priority and one can “control” the other activities to create a manageable and less stressful workload.

2. Delegation is Not an Option

Teach — and require — your emerging leaders to delegate. This is something I can admit I’ve struggled with as I’ve grown professionally. 

To help me, a few years ago Mike Lessiter asked me to create a “Stop List,” or  5 things that would create the capacity to take on larger and more important responsibilities if I could stop doing them. Some we stopped all together, and many of the others were easily passed to others. 

When purposeful, delegating isn’t passing the buck. One is actually empowering the rest of the team and helping them earn more responsibility — and value to the organization. If your informal leaders want to grow into formal leaders, they must learn to delegate. 

3. Complain Up

While it seems like a leader should never complain, that’s not realistic. But, a leader (and manager) should never complain to their team. Frustration and disagreement are a natural part of life and work, but it’s a bad look. That said, if the complaining is about having too much to do, refer back to tips 1 and 2. If you’ve got to vent, do it with someone at the same level as you or up to your boss. 

4. Don’t Assume They Want It

Just because you’ve identified staff with natural leadership skills and potential doesn’t mean they aspire to greater heights. What’s seemingly different today is only a few such prospects are willing to do what’s needed to advance, that will prepare them, personally and professionally, for a successful “next chapter.” Once you identify future prospects, have a frank conversation with them about the role they want to play and what they’re willing to do to get there.

Mark Your Calendars

We’re busy working on the agenda for the 2024 Dealership Minds Summit, Aug. 6-7 in Madison, Wis. This year’s focus is going to be on leadership and preparing the next generation of leaders. And by this we mean everyone in your company, not just those with the fancy titles on their business cards. We’ll share the agenda in our April/May edition.