I loved the article Great leaders Can Double Profits, Research Shows by Jack Zenger in Forbes this week. We've known for a long time the value of a great leader but this article really makes the point that developing your people to be extraordinary leaders actually has a positive impact on the bottom line. In fact, if your leaders aren't astute at motivating and inspiring their employees, you’re actually losing money. So, what can you do to transform your leaders?

Here are 5 things you can do to make your leaders extraordinary:

1. Identify the right “Leadership Competencies”: The right competencies that will drive bottom-line results need to be specific and connected to an organization’s unique strategy and priorities, while advancing and strengthening its culture and values. Development methods that work are those which are not “off the shelf” but rather are specifically customized to reinforce an organization’s purpose, strategy, culture and priorities.
2. Develop a Leadership Model that supports your business strategy: The development of an organization’s leadership model itself is a terrific opportunity to reinforce the strategy and culture and align leaders around the critical role leadership plays in driving business results.
3. Make sure you measure progress: When integrated with performance and development processes, a strong leadership model reinforces the importance of both the how and the what of delivering great performance. Measuring both the how and the what can reinforce the bottom-line value of demonstrating the right leadership behaviors.
4. Keep at it: The journey of leadership development in organizations can truly pave the path to inspiring extraordinary leaders who deliver great performance. But, your program can’t be a one and done. In the constantly changing world our organizations live within, what is required of leaders needs to continually be tested against shifts in strategy or culture.
5. Inspire others to lead: Stimulating leadership across the organization spreads the impact and value of leadership. While succession planning and governance models identify the high potential and formal leaders in an organization, tapping into informal leaders and building a critical mass of commitment to a leadership model accelerates results across the enterprise.

Above all, extraordinary leadership starts by stepping up to make a difference in our organizations. While there are many great steps to inspiring extraordinary leadership organization-wide, the most important step starts with you.