Leadership Training Design Requires Much Improvement
When you think about purchasing or designing training for your potential leaders what do you consider? The cost of the training? How long it’s going to take? Value? Results? Ongoing development? Where it is going to take place? Any ancillary costs such as accommodation and travel? Follow-up coaching? You probably consider all these and many other aspects of the training. One of the things which seems to escape us, is the current situation. What is it like being a leader in today’s workplace? What sort of things do they need to learn to be effective? It is a worthwhile exercise to ask a cross section of your leaders to find out exactly what their challenges are so that these can be incorporated in the training design and be a considerable help to the new leaders.
There are some things which never seem to change. For example, people in leadership positions in today’s workplace are constantly learning. Every day they are faced with new situations that they have never encountered before. On these occasions, previous experience often counts for nothing. This means that they have to anticipate the possible consequences of any course of action and pick the action that seems to hold the promise of success. As leaders develop, they learn how to analyze situations, look at options and pick the best one.
Another thing that leaders develop is the ability to see the big picture so that their decision-making fits the overall objective and the vision. Also, it must be never forgotten that leaders work in the future. They are not necessarily devoted to maintaining the current situation but as Napoleon said, they are dealers in hope.
The next big issue for leadership training is the development of discretionary effort from followers. This is probably the most neglected part of leadership training because it is regarded as fairly difficult for training designers to include in the program. Furthermore, it can only be learned by doing it rather than in the classroom. It is an important element of leadership that is best developed through coaching in the workplace.
Putting all this in context in a training program for leaders is a big ask. However, these are only four things that represent leadership today. When you ask your experienced leaders you will find many other aspects that will help the people aspiring to fill a leadership position. It won’t take you long to compile a list of what should be included in the leadership training. This will enable you to compare what is being offered with what is required.
No related posts.