Whether you are dealing with departmental growth or succession planning, it's always important to be developing the next wave of leaders in your organization. While there are several strategies to train employees with the knowledge and experience needed to successfully spearhead a team, one of the most effective and rewarding ways to address this situation is through a leadership development mentoring program. Specifically, preparing and training high-potentials in your organization to grow into a leadership position by pairing them with an experienced employee.

Besides harnessing the people you already have in your organization, an in-house leadership development program helps:

• Increase employee engagement and satisfaction
• Boost retention and recruiting efforts
• Provide the attention and training high-potentials need to excel
• Develop meaningful relationships between experienced leaders and those looking to develop new skills
• Allow seasoned employees to give back

Here are five steps to keep in mind when designing a leadership development program to equip your employees with the skills to make an impact on your organization.

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All leaders have a variety of traits in common that contribute to the growth and success of an organization. But what can separate a good leader from a great one is the ability to communicate and connect with teams. While this may seem easy to achieve, even the most respected leaders must continually practice and refine these skills.

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Confidence. Commitment. Passion. Integrity. All of these are characteristics of an admirable leader. But there is one trait that may overshadow them all: self-awareness. Self-aware leaders have the ability to monitor their own emotions and reactions. Leaders that are highly attuned to their behaviors (and how others perceive those behaviors) can make a positive impact in their organization by setting the tone for maturity, moderation, and civility that others will aim to replicate.

We promote self-awareness at Birkman—it's critical for everyone's personal development, not just leaders. However, self-awareness is difficult to practice, especially when under stress.

There are three elements to self-awareness:

• Knowing your own behavior—good and bad
• Leveraging your good behavior
• Curbing the bad behavior

It seems simple, but even those of us immersed in a company culture that emphasizes the importance of self-awareness can struggle. Ultimately, in those moments when you're frustrated in the workplace, it's hard to step back, take a deep breath, and assess how you can best handle a situation.

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