“Times they are a changing!” This phrase appropriately describes the evolutionary status with regard to the task of LEADERSHIP.  Today with the accelerating rate of change, intrusion of social media, revised list of occupation expectations and millennials impacting today’s workforce; LEADERSHIP as a professional trait, has become confused.  The confusion does not just occur in the day-to-day prioritization and organizational decisions.  Rather it calls in thoughts about how to correctly share leadership, determine the pros and cons of inventing/introducing totally new approaches, but also it asks the question: Where is leadership most valued as it is delivered?

Historically and typically leadership expectations are delegated to the highest levels within an organization’s structure.  However, over the past 10+ years leadership duties and responsibilities have bled down into multiple management levels for all the right reasons and with positive results. So today we must take on the challenge of how to constructively harness the leadership contributions of front line staff!

Introducing factors involved in moving toward a “Ground-Level-Leading” (GLL) organizational design would include the following:

• Leadership training would be the GLL priority for front line staff professional development.
• GLL would require evidence-based “up-line” communications and reporting to encourage a continuous improvement mind-set.
• GLL findings would be given customized involvement in Board/Director level discussions/planning
• Regularly scheduled GLL Strategy Sessions would be organized and led by front-line staff…with top level leaders also in attendance.

Eventually, projected positive outcomes of employing a GLL strategy may include but not be limited to the following:

• GLL would improve the value of agency products/services to the customer.
• GLL would narrow the gap between front-line customer knowledge and higher level decision makers.
• Time is a limited asset…GLL would further improve time management at all levels.
• GLL implementation would reduce service limitations resulting from perceived organizational and geographic boundaries.
• Direct evidence-based information would be realized via front-line customer contact/input.

There really is no “best” time to begin “Ground-Level-Leading” actions.  Rather just moving steadily in this direction can only grow your organization or business in a unified way.