Question:
Your column on leadership development in the Jan. 11 issue caught my eye. Can you tell me more about the relevant developmental programming aspect? The big thing around here is to read leadership books. I’ve got about a dozen of them piled up in a box next to my desk right now. A couple of years ago our president got the idea from somebody that all of us should read the same books, so we’d think the same about leadership. Problem was there were too many books to read and too little interest. After awhile, we stopped talking about the books, although leaders new to the company still get this stack of books thrown at them. I don’t know what they do with them. Probably put them in a box next to their desk like I did. Anyway, I’d like to see you write some more about the program part. Thanks.
Answer:
From my perspective, leadership development is one of the most critical drivers of organizational performance.
I firmly believe that the quality of leadership directly affects the quality of employee performance.
I firmly believe that the quality of employee performance directly affects customer satisfaction and retention.
I firmly believe that customer satisfaction and retention directly affect financial performance.
So, from my way of looking at things, if you want to have better organizational performance, leadership development is the area to invest time, effort and resources. In the Jan. 11 column that the reader references, I outlined what I consider to be the foundations of an effective leadership development and success program. These elements are:
1. Infrastructure
Who’s responsible for the program? To what extent are top leaders involved and engaged? To what extent is leadership truly a strategic organizational priority?
2. Talent identification
What process is used to identify leadership development participants? What process is used to assess leadership talent?
3. Relevant development programming
How is leadership development programming provided? How is leadership development programming stratified?
4. Program evaluation
How are the results of leadership development programming tracked? What process is used to fine-tune the leadership development program over time?
Let me emphasize that from my perspective the only way to play this game is to play it seriously. Over the years, I have seen far too many examples of half-hearted attempts that sound or look like leadership development. I have seen far too many examples of “flavor of the month” or “spur of the moment” exercises that provide fleeting rather than lasting impact. I am certain that some of our readers will resonate with the reader’s experience in which “leadership development” takes the form of, “Let’s have all of the leaders read _________ (the latest leadership bestseller). Then, we can talk about it at some of our upcoming meetings. That will really get us headed in the right direction . . . .”
Sorry, but I have to tell you these kinds of exercise are, at best, awareness building activities. At worst, they are an absolute waste of time. Reading some book that is supposedly “hot” simply reflects our fascination with leadership and the transitory belief that one particular method of leadership is superior to all others. Missed this year’s bestseller? Stick around. There’ll be another one (hundred!) coming next year!
Here’s a simple prescription: Stop trying to keep up with “leadership fashion!” Here’s an important corollary: Spend some time exploring the nature of your organization – the one in which your leaders offer leadership to your employees.
Remember: Different organizational settings might require different leadership approaches. So, the place to get started is by identifying the most relevant developmental programming for leaders to experience. What are the pressing concerns that leaders must confront? What do leaders need to be able to know or do to be maximally successful? What are the challenges of the internal business environment having to do with organizational purpose, partnership, and processes? What are some important issues of the external business environment having to do with customers, competition, and change?
Establishing a clear context for leadership programming is essential. Targeting relevant issues is essential. We all know that today’s leadership challenges are different than yesterday’s challenges. A 2000 study by researchers at the University of Michigan identified the following issues as the ones that most concern today’s leaders:
• Attracting, keeping, and developing good people
• Thinking and planning strategically
• Maintaining a high performance climate
• Improving customer satisfaction
• Managing time and stress
• Staying ahead of the competition
• Aligning vision, strategy, and behavior
• Maintaining work and life balance
• Improving internal processes
• Stimulating innovation
In my experience, the most effective leadership development programs are systematic, structured, and sustained. They have the sponsorship of the top executives. They are adequately resourced. They offer organizationally-relevant learning experiences. They are goal-referenced. They are evaluated and modified.
In brief, effective leadership development programs provide for individual and organizational adaptation, adaptation being perhaps the most important indicator of whether the program is working. After all, we live in a world where it is, “What have you done for me lately?”
It has been said that today it is not the big who eat the small, but rather it is the fast who eat the slow. Being there first, ahead of the competition, is what it’s all about. But, let’s face it: Does that kind of nimble, adaptive organizational performance “just happen?” I don’t think so.
For the organization to be adaptive, timely, and responsive, leaders must be adaptive, timely, and responsive.
For leaders to be adaptive, timely, and responsive, leadership development programming must be adaptive, timely, and responsive.
So, the message here is for leadership programming to be performance-based and action-oriented. The focus must be on helping leaders understand and solve complex, real-life problems, in real-time fashion. Key components of such an approach include:
• Focus on important challenges that leaders and their teams must meet.
• Emphasis on approaching the problems and challenges from fresh perspectives.
• Use of a problem solving approach (e.g., gather and interpret data to come to a shared understanding of the problem and then diagnose the root causes of major factors that have led to the problem).
• Empowerment to take action and implement action plans.
• Commitment to continuous learning.
• Use of a facilitator to help balance the dual tasks of problem-solving and learning.
I recognize that what is discussed in this column moves a bit beyond the mere reading of best selling leadership books. But, if the goal is ultimately to improve the quality of leadership performance, then the leadership development program must be performance-based. From this perspective, a performance-based approach to leadership is not a luxury, something that is nice to do. No, it is something that is necessary to do.
