In this Training Unleashed Podcast, our host Evan Hackel interviewed Kimberly Gerber, CEO of Excelerate and executive coach. We know you will benefit from Kimberly’s no-holds-barred insights into what many leaders do both right and wrong as they strive to build successful organizations. Here are some of the leadership opportunities that came to the surface in the interview.

Leadership Opportunity: Hire and Promote the Right People

Often, leaders hire the wrong people for the wrong jobs. But Kimberly points out that just as often, companies hire the right people and place them in the wrong jobs.

Why do company leaders make this mistake? One reason is that executives who are interviewing tend to over-prioritize the personal connection they feel with candidates.

Kimberly also observes that hiring executives are prone to evaluate internal candidates by looking at the jobs they have performed in the company and overlook the fact that internal candidates could have a “whole other background” of skills that they could bring to the new role.

Leadership Opportunity: Retain the Right People

Kimberly told Evan that in the wake of Covid-19, many companies are simply not doing enough proactively to retain their talent. Companies need to get their most important employees on employee incentive and reward programs, so they will not want to leave.

Leadership Opportunity: Connect Personally with Employees

According to Kimberly, another reason people leave is that the leaders fail to invest in them on a personal level. “People want to know that a leader has your back . . . is investing in you from a mentoring perspective . . . is taking the time to craft a career plan for you and providing opportunities for you to grow your skillset. Those are the leaders that people will hang around for.”

Leadership Opportunity: Build Trust

Loyalty results when people trust that a leader will give them the opportunities to keep growing and simply to feel good about collaborating with him or her. Kimberly stated, “When people feel that way, they think, `I’ll stay with this company, even though I might be leaving money on the table.’” Evan agreed and noted that while people like money, it is usually not the most important motivator to follow a leader and give their utmost to an employer.

Leadership Opportunity: Invest in Great Training

Kimberly observed that leaders should take the lead in having their organizations provide inspiring training to their people. Doing so does more than teach people skills, it demonstrates that a company is making a committed, long-term investment in every member of the team.

A Special Offer

Kimberly Gerber invites all members of the Training Unleashed community to take the Promotability Assessment that you will find on the Excelerate website.

About Our Guest

Kimberly Gerber is the founder of Excelerate, an innovative executive development firm specializing in helping leaders prepare for and succeed in C-level roles. For 30+ years, she has helped transform the impact of 1500+ leaders across 100 companies.

The creator of several innovative leadership development programs, Kimberly helps senior leaders create strategic vision, build strong cultures, elevate leadership presence, and finesse communication to strengthen their impact on teams and organizations.

Kimberly and her team at Excelerate have provided more than 38,000 hours of coaching, training and strategy work, helping her executive clients master the five elements of successful executive-level leadership—boosting a 94% client promotion rate and a 100% client re-hire rate. Her focus of candor and kindness is designed to help her clients become the best version of themselves.