Most of us have heard of the Olympic ideal that winning isn’t everything, it’s taking part that is most important and, after all, nobody runs their business to win silver medals……or do they?

In an Olympic year and with the London Olympic Games now only 4 years away, there are already businesses springing up or expanding to support an event which will be, for many, the biggest commercial opportunity they will ever see, with revenue generation expected to continue well after the games themselves.

New or larger businesses will require more leaders, but it is amazing that whilst many businesses will spend a great deal of time and money identifying and selecting potential candidates, they will fail to apply similar levels of resource to training them in fundamental people-management skills. As a result, many of those promoted to management responsibilities won’t perform to expectations and some will fail completely - even relatively small organisations with very little formal structure aren’t immune, suffering increased staff dissatisfaction and turnover.

Government ministers have identified the need to ensure the ‘availability of people with the right skills’ to ensure that this business explosion is maximised and that includes ensuring effective leadership at every level. So what’s the answer to the question of how chief executives, managing directors and proprietors can ‘win the gold medal’ is to deliver practical skills and knowledge training to leaders at every level, providing them with effective, proven tools to use in their workplace?

I believe the solution lies within a series of stand-alone management training courses designed specifically to provide essential management skills for business leaders, in which managers are free to choose whichever topics are of specific interest and combine them in an order of priority which most suits their needs.

Learning needs to be led not just by regular trainers, but by knowledgeable executives with previous experience of working with under-performing organisations, developing people, teams, systems and strategies to drive improvement. I would also suggest that lesson content should be in ‘bite-sized’ pieces, with typical training courses lasting no more than a day, to enhance retention of learning and, hopefully, boost implementation of skills at the sharp end.

It’s my assertion that the success of any business is totally reliant on its people and the way in which they are led. Skills and knowledge, given to the leaders of the future today, can be passed on by them to further generations and will contribute hugely to the ongoing growth and success of their businesses to 2012 and beyond.

Business consultant and coach Annie Metcalfe, who delivers leadership and management coaching programmes, says “Almost every day I have clients telling me about the problems caused in their business by a manager’s lack of basic management skills”.

It therefore seems logical to conclude that, if our Olympic businesses are going to be winners, their managers need to train hard for 2012 and beyond!