Episode 109: Transforming Leadership Development—Are We Missing The Main Thing?

What’s the main thing for leadership development? Is it excelling at selecting the right people? Is it a well-funded corporate learning center with renowned faculty? Is it using the most powerful learning technologies? Worse yet, what if we’ve been missing the main thing? In this episode, we are looking at the development industry and some of the puzzle pieces that we believe are missing to make more progress happen.

• The main thing driving success in leadership development is the commitment and involvement of the senior leadership team, because there are some important elements in developing leaders that only they can make happen.  It can’t be delegated to HR.
• Rather than an increase in leadership effectiveness happening as leaders age, the results show a steady decline.
• Bottom line: there has simply not been a concerted, deliberate effort to ensure people learn from their on-the-job experience. Worse yet, the term learning may have become the ultimate rabbit hole.  Effective leadership is defined by our behavior, not the information residing in our brains.
• Make “after-action reviews” a way of life. Take time to analyze the original intentions of a project and compare it to what actually happened. Agree on what should be repeated and avoided in the future.
• Discover each direct report’s career aspirations. What do they need or want to learn? What experiences would they benefit from having?
• Self-awareness is vital for long-term success. Everyone can benefit from an external, objective assessment from the people they work with. Participate eagerly in a 360-degree feedback process.