It's widely recognized that leadership and development of leaders are key drivers of corporate success.
HR has recognized and preached this and – increasingly – management is not only listening, but starting to take action, invest, and make leadership development a corporate priority.
No doubt about it – leadership development is a hot executive management issue. One only has to look at the bestseller lists or scan the array of leadership courses being offered. Yet, along with increased attention comes increased scrutiny. Companies are demanding results in the form of higher calibre leaders with the ability to impact the bottom line across the organization. Despite agreement on the importance of this topic and the dollars being spent, there is a growing feeling that many companies are getting it wrong.
The ability to develop leaders is expected to be a growing priority for HR in coming years as demographics and globalization increase competition for the best people. The "one-size-fits-all" approach used by many organizations is rarely effective. Effective leadership development is most successful when grounded in the following principles:
Engage senior leaders.
In organizations where leadership development is effective, senior leaders are engaged. This goes beyond traditional support to actual involvement. The senior team should be directly involved in delivering coaching, facilitating discussions with leaders and in assessing leadership capability. According to a recent study on global talent management by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the more time and effort is devoted by leaders to talent management (including developing future leaders), the greater the payoff in the organization's ability to identify and develop high potential talent.
Define the leadership story.
Generic leadership models are often built on a foundation that assumes that leadership is the same across different types of organizations. This is wrong. Leadership means different things in different organizations. Leadership necessary to drive business results within a professional services organization is different than the leadership required within a manufacturing environment. A compelling story must be created that communicates the organization's unique brand of leadership. The process begins by defining what leadership means within the organization and why it is critical to future success. It expands to include what it means to individuals and their roles in making this vision a reality.
Integrate leadership development strategies.
Frequently, organizations try a variety of development strategies such as executive assessment, 360° feedback, classroom training, e-learning, coaching, etc. Often these strategies are not linked and managers can't see how strategies connect to one another. When it is unclear how each strategy is part of the bigger picture, it becomes too easy for managers to go through the motions of what they dismiss as just another HR initiative. Organizations need to identify a few critical leadership practices and combine them so they are a part of a complete leadership development process. This brings alignment and consistency to all leadership development practices.
Provide support during the leadership lifecycle.
Effective leadership development strategies are based on the leadership lifecycle. There are times when a leader needs extra support in his/her career. The first important moment in the lifecycle occurs when an employee becomes a manager. New managers often need extra support but don't get it. They may feel tremendous pressure to prove themselves but won't ask for help because they don't want to appear to be weak. Other important moments include promotion into the executive ranks or assuming a leadership role in a new operational environment.
Help leaders learn from experience through coaching.
Many leaders say their most important learning is through trial and error, dealing with hardships and difficult situations and by observing others. No development approach will fully prepare leaders for the judgments, decisions, and challenges they will face in their jobs. Some of the most important lessons of leadership will not be learned in a classroom, but from everyday experience. Leaders must be able to reflect on their own experiences to develop key learning and insights. Coaches, working with leaders, help them reflect on their experiences, assist them through difficult leadership situations and reinforce the leadership values of the organization.
Measure the results.
As the need for strong leadership capability continues to increase, organizations will be called upon to rethink leadership development in ways that drive business results and demonstrate the return on investment (ROI). Dramatic results can be seen:
- Executive Recruiter News reports that executive coaching delivers a ROI of almost six times the initial cost of coaching.
- Dell Computer Corporation has been measuring ROI for executive coaching in a formalized way for more than 5 years and reports senior staff members who have received coaching being promoted more often than those who don't participate in one-on-one coaching conversations.
- Evaluation of the program should be designed into the process from the beginning to better set performance expectations and open up new learning opportunities.
Organizations should reflect on how they are currently achieving business results and the extent to which they are using the power of leadership development to drive business performance. In particular, we suggest you consider the following:
- What strategies do you have in place to achieve your business results?
- To what extent have you linked business results with leadership development?
- How could you better align leadership development with the organizational strategic imperatives?