While leadership development continues to be cited as a current and future priority by executives, many off-site programmes still fall short of their desired goals.

There is no doubt that we want our organisations’ leaders to innovate and create new business. To address this, we offer them structured programmes through which they can acquire the tools to help them achieve this, where they are inspired to go the extra mile and where they might even commit to a series of actions that will help them implement the learning back at work.

However, once they’re back to “business as usual”, they find that there is no space back at work to be innovative, there is no time to implement these tools or to change their behaviour.

So how can we make sure that the knowledge and insights acquired off-site will support a leader’s daily practice?

Our experience suggests that when certain design principles are implemented, the chance of facilitating change within an organisation increases tremendously. Some of the key design principles we believe in are:

Involve Business Leaders

Business leaders need to be involved in the early stages of designing the leadership development programmes rolled out in an organisation. Whether this happens through direct conversation with outside providers and/or by working alongside L&D departments, those that are closest to the immediate business challenges need to be a part of the initial conversation.

Understand the Context

What are the organisation’s priorities and how will they affect the capabilities required by their leaders, right now? Is the business designed to allow leaders to apply their learning back at work? What business needs will be addressed by developing the organisation’s leaders?

The answers to these questions (and many more) will help to roll out the right programme at the right time.

Reframe Delegate Selection

Would you rather be involved in a leadership programme that tackles issues you care about and that is obviously related to your current challenges, or in one to which you have been “sent”? Even though leaders would rather have 76% more time for formal learning than they have access to (Ready-Now Leaders: Meeting Tomorrow’s Business Challenges, DDI), there is still a danger of delegates feeling like they are being “sent” on a programme, which can make them feel inadequate.

It therefore pays off to ensure that those attending the programme care about the material they’ll be tackling and look forward to an experience that will help them re-connect at a higher level with their business when they return to work.

Taking a holistic approach

Of course “formal development programmes” on their own have limited impact on mindset and behavioral change. Taking a more holistic and systemic view of any intervention is likely to increase its impact on the organisation:

• How engaged and supportive are line managers and staff? Are they involved in briefings or debriefings?
• Is it clear why the intervention is necessary?
• Are the processes, practices and principles in place to support the change that each delegate commits to or are they still designed to deliver value today?
• Is the predominant leadership model one where the individual is felt to be totally responsible and can change everything through their own heroic deeds? Or is it one where the leader is more of a contextual architect enabling other to achieve great things?
Of course there are many more principles of beliefs that could be added to the list. The above are some of the most important ones in our opinion.

The underlying philosophy upon which our programmes are generally co-created is not to teach people (to be better leaders) but instead to create an environment that fosters participants to take accountability for their learning and growth, which can often translate into new organizational initiatives and business growth.

 

We are currently talking to 20 organisations (leaders in their own field) about innovation in leadership development. Our goal is to find out how they are shaping the leadership behaviours and attributes that support not just their business objectives but the ways in which they interact with the environment and society at large. If you would like to share your experience with us or be kept up to date with our findings, get in touch.