Leaders Develop Others

Your leadership responsibility is not solely to the financial bottom line. It is to people and to the organization. One of the keenest legacies and biggest contributions a leader can make is to develop others. Whether that is personal mentoring, encouraging someone to continue his or her education, or providing the tools to learn.

Clay Mathile, former owner and CEO of the Iams Company, learned that developing others through education and opportunities for growth and promotion, paid huge dividends for the company. Clay grew Iams from a small regional pet food company, $500,000, to $1 billion before selling it to international conglomerate Proctor & Gamble in 1999.

He established Iams University for the employees and then distributors as well. Developing others leads to better results, people with more confidence, more skill, and a better outlook on life. The bottom line follows.