According to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast, only23% of leaders rate their leadership development as high quality while 77% of businesses report they struggle to find and develop leaders.
At the same time, both newly-appointed and experienced leaders are feeling increasingly unprepared and unsupported in dealing with the challenges that come with a leadership position.
However, anyone can find a wealth of easily accessible resources to train leaders; courses, seminars, conferences, coaching, apps and learning platforms.
So, what is really the problem here? 🤔
Let's do a quick evaluation of the usual suspects (aka, the common pathways most organizations take to train and develop leaders):
Leadership retreats: one of the most expensive options and yet, largely ineffective. Participants leave the retreat feeling inspired and having added a few tools to their learning arsenal. But, a few months later, real (work)life kicks in and the learnings from the retreat fade away.
Content libraries/learning platforms: easy to use, flexible and with enough content to fulfill a variety of requirements. This is the go-to solution in most L&D frameworks. On the flip side, the lack of interaction during the training and the passive participation do not make the learnings stick. This makes turning theory into practice even more difficult.
Coaching: probably the most effective method for long-lasting, consistent results (albeit, still a pricey option). However, 1:1 coaching focuses on the individual's challenges and doesn't help create a shared approach for the entire leadership function within an organization.
Leadership development will be most effective if:
It includes a social element for shared learning. Group learning provides opportunities for leaders to mentor and be mentored by each other.
It's ongoing and consistent (not a one-off). The learnings are reinforced on a day-to-day setting thus promoting habit-building.
The content is pragmatic. It examines real-life scenarios and doesn't just stay on high-level theory.
It encompasses behaviors shared across the organization, not just on a top level leadership. This promotes effective succession planning and helps prepare the future leaders of the organization.
What other ways can help make leadership development more effective?