Great leaders do not change things just to do it differently, or to “put their stamp” on a process. Leaders innovate to make it better for the company and the people they lead. I have seen many new CEOs take over a company and start changing things without ever understanding what they were changing or why it was done that way in the first place. That is simply change for the sake of change. It accomplishes nothing and often does more harm than good.

Now, here is the good news. Within almost every organization there are people with the capacity to create, the capacity to innovate, and the capacity to inspire. Identifying them can be hard, but those are your future leaders. Find them and nurture them.

Ongoing professional development - with the possible exception of mandated safety and compliance education - is one of the most overlooked processes in the business world. The good news is that this problem can be easily addressed with a professional development strategy.

Many employees don’t keep their skillset current? Is that the fault of the employee? Maybe. Is that the fault of leadership? Again, the answer is maybe. Leaders must encourage and support ongoing career and skill development. But the employee must also be willing to accept that fact that things change very rapidly and they must continue their education, continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to develop and perfect new skills.