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According to Gallup, only 1 in 10 people possess the talents required to be a great manager. Even those with the natural talent to lead have to work to gain the knowledge and learn the skills that will help them excel in a leadership role. Great managers can help their team go beyond expectations and reach their full potential. Bad managers, on the other hand, hold their teams and employees back. Employee engagement can make or break a business, and research shows that managers account for as much as 70% of employee engagement variances. It’s said that when an employee leaves a company, they’re really leaving their manager. While every employee has their reason for leaving a job, one of the most common complaints among dissatisfied employees is micromanagement. 

Nearly every business owner or executive leader that seeks a conversation about coaching with me likely presents a variation on the following theme: what used to deliver results has stopped working. Often they cannot be more specific; they’re troubled by the feeling that something is ‘off’, perhaps the team isn’t ‘jibing’, or they are questioning whether or not they have the right priorities. 

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to protect the interests of your employees, customers, and shareholders and uncover and helm any opportunities hiding amid the maelstrom. While it may sound impossible, insightful leaders are often able to guide their businesses through a crisis, so they emerge stronger than before. As former CEO of Intel Andy Grove once observed, “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.” So, how do you turn a crisis into an opportunity? Below are a few of the elements seasoned leaders wield to help them emerge from challenges more robust and more successful than before.

Any elite athlete in any sport, whether team or individual, that has achieved greatness defined as winning championships, competing at an elite level, including the Olympics, and has been rewarded with the accolades that prove their performance, understood the distinction between good and great. Many entrepreneur owners and entrepreneurial-minded corporate executives would like to capture this “lightning in a bottle” to achieve greatness. There are actions you can take to create the foundation for greatness. Keep in mind that inspiration precedes perspiration; to tap into the talent of your entire team, be intentional with the following methods.