A great book for business leaders is The CEO Next Door. In the book the author describes the characteristics of folks that have made it to the top of the corporate food chain as CEO of the company.

Of the many characteristics discussed the one that stuck with me the most, is that an effective leader helps people reach their full potential.

But first things first. My mind began to rumble with the following issues… When you’re hiring how do you even know if qualified candidates fit the energy of your company? And once you trust your gut to hire the candidate; how can you determine they’re a good fit to be groomed for mentorship to reach that “full potential.”

In my years of managing people, one of the things that you can do to set your search engine to filter, is by giving the potential candidates looking to move up within the hierarchy of the organization tasks to complete.

Time after time, if you give each person enough opportunities, the cream will certainly rise to the top. Do not give meaningless tasks. Everything should count fair and square. With your focus always being transfixed on bettering your customer service and reducing defects for the consumer of your product. Thus, give the employee a task and deadline to complete the project.

And of course simply completing a project is just the beginning.

Do they complete the project with purpose? Do they complete the task in a manner that makes the business better, and fulfills the customer’s need? Is the work sloppy or is the work timely and on point? Thus, as the leader — your job is constantly to be the teacher. Grading out their work. Asking yourself constantly is this bad work, good work, above average, or great? Is this a bad idea, good idea, above average idea, or great idea?

As a mentor and servant leader you hope that they take your knowledge and push forward with their own ideas and fight for the causes that make them wake up early in the morning. All the while, you keep feeding them with your history and understanding of how things work and operate in the marketplace. Understanding that as you help them, they help both you and the customer.

In summary, servant leaders pass on the knowledge to those that are able to retain the knowledge, work hard and complete tasks in a timely manner. These folks are the type of people that push the needle forward to create better products and customer satisfaction for the consumer of the goods that your business offers.

Thus, to keep your business thriving.. you must Keep fighting for your customers business , keep serving the customer as you best know how, and keep sharing the knowledge with your employees that have ears that listen!

Sam Blakemore is the Pharmacy Manager of Peds Rx Pharmacy Solutions. Connect with him via: LinkedIn