58% of medium-sized business owners have seen knowledge/skills gaps in leadership and management. Experienced people professional and leader Thelma Janse van Rensburg has worked with scale-ups in South Africa who have also experienced these challenges first-hand. She advises how to close the leadership gap.
There’s no doubt that being a business leader in South Africa is not for the faint of heart. All the usual business management pressures aside, issues like political uncertainty, a slow economy, a power supply crisis (though easing, but let’s not jinx it), and crime and corruption all add to the mix of challenges.
“Business owners experience such a mental overload navigating not only the macroeconomics of South Africa, but also the immense demands of trying to find product-market fit and build for continued growth, often with limited resources,” says Thelma.
All these external factors create additional stress for entrepreneurs and managers. Beyond simply running daily operations, they must juggle challenges that can shift rapidly—making leadership development and strong management skills more critical than ever.
“Often when business owners need to add structure to their organisation, they look within and promote employees they know and trust. This may be the easier approach, but unfortunately – while these employees may have been star performers as individual contributors – they will struggle if the sudden promotion to management comes without the required training or support,” says Thelma.
According to research by LeadMe Academy, an online leadership coaching platform, line managers play a critical role in employee engagement, well-being and productivity. When they lack proper training, they may fail to manage teams effectively, leading to higher turnover rates, decreased employee satisfaction and lower productivity. These inefficiencies can directly affect an organisation’s profitability.
Clearly, knowledge gaps in leadership and management can’t be ignored. Left to widen, they can stifle growth, innovation, operational efficiency and profitability. By getting ahead of the curve and addressing these gaps, businesses can build leadership teams that are more capable, decisive, adaptable and resilient – making them better equipped to drive business growth.
Here’s where to start, according to Thelma:
Start with the basics – often business owners mistakenly fall into the trap of assuming their managers understand the ins and outs of basic business processes. Work on building training collateral that can be circulated often and invest in management onboarding.
If this feels overwhelming, or you don’t have the internal resources for training, consider getting external support. LeadMe Academy’s founder, Jackie Kennedy, says that companies that have partnered with LeadMe in developing their training programmes have seen improvements in employee engagement, team cohesion, collaboration, productivity, goal alignment and communication.
Offering formal training in change management can help leaders adapt to and drive successful organisational transformations.
Digital tools and e-learning platforms can make leadership training more accessible, scalable and affordable, particularly for medium-sized businesses with limited resources.
Providing one-on-one guidance and support through mentoring programmes can help leaders develop the right skills and mindset for their roles, and in turn, help them guide new leadership talent.
This ensures continuity and helps prepare the next generation of leaders for more senior roles.
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