The best way to develop yourself is to develop others.
Peter Drucker
Overview
A robust leadership development strategy is based on:
- Business imperatives and succession priorities
Leadership development doesn't begin with copying the programmes and practices of "best practice" organisations. It starts with a clear view of what matters to your organisation and what it needs to do to compete in future. This is prioritising the investment in development around key pivotal roles and individuals.
- A recognition that some individuals are more "developable" than
others
Playing "succession roulette" to bet equally on all professionals and executives is an expensive resourcing strategy. The reality is that some individuals, despite their early promise or impressive results at the start of their careers, have a "short runway." Build in an assessment of "runway" to differentiate the individuals who may have achieved quick success but whose growth potential is limited from those individuals who represent a better investment for the long-term.
- Targeting development on the individual and their "career
focus"
Company-wide initiatives organised around standard training and educational activity for a professional/management group have huge value in reinforcing organisational values and cultural norms and creating a shared understanding of leadership requirements. The downside is that participants have different pasts, face different challenges in the present and have different aspirations and ambitions for the future. This represents a genuine dilemma in planning a strategy for talent development. An exclusive focus on each individual and their personal development makes it difficult to create collective purpose across the leadership population. But standard programmes can easily become "sheep-dip" exercises, where delegates are herded through a series of modules, few of any relevance.
- Real life experience of the "tough stuff"
Formal training and educational events have the capacity to accelerate learning around specific issues, and coaching and mentoring can do much to guide and support personal development. But the development of leadership comes from exposure to the trials and tribulations, the uncertainties and adversities of organisational life. This is not an argument for "trial-by-fire", but an appeal for development to be grounded in challenge and action.
What We Do
Help organisations design a game plan for leadership
development. At one level this is about identifying priorities and establishing where there is the greatest potential to make a difference. Sometimes it is about the design of formal events and programmes, usually it is about helping build a culture in which line managers understand and are equipped in their roles to develop others.
The Leadership Directory. With access to over 600 insights (everything from creative thinking, dealing with politics to managing under-performance), linked to over 100 "best-on-the-Internet" links to leadership sites and articles, the www.theleadershipdirectory.com is available to those accessing our assessment and 360 feedback products. No adverts, no clutter it provides a support resource for the development of your leaders. The platform is also available to organisations using their branding and structured around their own leadership frameworks. For organisations struggling with the complexities of Learning Management Systems and Virtual Learning Environments, it's a cost effective solution to support wider talent management and leadership development processes.
Branded solutions. While some organisations wait for SAP and the implementation of fully integrated Learning Management Solutions....and wait, other organisations access our content and technology to build customised stand alone leadership resource. Our on line directories can be adapted quickly and cost effectively to incorporate your organisation's leadership framework and branding.
Coaching. If your organisation is reviewing its coaching provision, contact us. We have access to a network of over 30 of the best coaches, in the UK, as well as overseas. We don't operate any financial structure with our coaching network. We simply recommend coaches who have impressed their clients and us with their professionalism, skill and wisdom.