Markon Leadership Development: Profit is Everyone’s Job

One of the biggest problems I have observed in our industry is that small, growing company leaders don’t understand how their company makes money, why they might be losing money, or what is driving profit up or down. This problem becomes more pervasive as companies grow and expect more and more people to make good decisions that impact profit.

I have seen many privately held companies become too “close-hold” with their profit data; both what components make up the profit calculation and what the result is at the end of each month. There always needs to be a balance between protecting sensitive company data and arming key leaders with important metrics to allow them to develop as leaders and make good decisions.

I strongly believe that teaching your new leaders what impacts the bottom line far outweighs the risks associated with proprietary data ending up in the wrong hands.

If up-and-coming leaders never have the opportunity to understand what drives profit or how their day-to-day decisions impact profit, how will they become leaders that actually improve profit?

A very smart colleague frequently reminds me that “everyone is the CEO of something.”

It may be a contract, small business unit, or client relationship, but everyone (especially those in leadership positions) needs to be accountable for making good decisions that have a positive impact on profit. If your company is not teaching leaders how to impact profit in positive ways, you will continually lag those that do.

Markon incorporates in our leadership training a segment called “Developing Markon Cost Efficiencies.” We go through, in detail, how daily decisions from timely timecard approval to salary negotiations impact Markon’s bottom line profit.

Do you challenge your leaders with financial responsibilities? Do you trust them to make decisions? Can you afford not to?