Leadership Development: Close the gaps in your strategy

When most people think about leadership development they’re missing the point. When most people think about leadership development they think about training programs with flashy brochures, and highly energetic presenters. Now, these types of sessions are part of the picture, they inspire, entertain, and sometimes even provide new insight for leaders, but Leadership development is more than this. Effective leadership development is about the long game, and it’s all about strategy.

It has been estimated by Deloitte that over $130 Billion is spent worldwide on leadership development, and that this will only increase as businesses bounce back from the GFC. While this is a hefty sum, the argument for investing in leadership development is simple, leadership development is important because better leaders produce better business outcomes. However, if leadership development is viewed only as a program rather than a strategy, businesses aren’t getting value for money.  For leadership development to be worthwhile, gaps in leadership development strategy must be addressed.

Gap 1 – Failing to account for habits

Why do so many people find it nearly impossible to give up smoking, start exercising, or avoid impulse purchases? The answer can be found in habits. Because of habits it is no less difficult for a leader to miraculously change their entrenched behaviours, than it is for a smoker to go cold turkey. The habit loop is simple but powerful. For example, a leader may become aware of an idea that one of his or her team members has developed (habit cue). The leader then promotes this idea within the business and takes credit for it (habit routine). Finally, the leader receives praise and is looked upon as innovative (habit reward). To break the habit loop a leadership development strategy must answer a fundamental question – Why should I change the behaviours that have enabled me to get where I am today? Leaders may realise the adverse impacts that some of their behaviours cause, however if these behaviours have led to their own success, they may see that the ends justifies the means. Leadership Development strategy must dictate that leaders are rewarded for both acceptable behaviour and business results.

Gap 2 – Underestimating the effects of Workplace Culture

Workplace culture is a powerful force that shapes the way that people behave at work. Leaders can influence workplace culture by setting new expectations, however, because leaders work within culture they are also influenced by it. Too often leadership development does not account for culture as development activities are abstract and occur away from the workplace. In such cases staff are often unaware of their leaders’ development efforts, excluding them from the change. Leadership development is a workplace change that should include those that it effects, especially staff that a leader leads. Put another way, if you were implementing a new payroll system, would you expect the system to be immediately effective if no one knew the change was about to occur? – Absolutely not.  Communicating with staff about Leadership Development efforts allows them to support leaders as they strive to improve, and highlights the behaviours and competencies that are expected if staff are to become future leaders. Leadership development is as much about cultural change as it is about up-skilling individual leaders.

Gap 3 – Ineffective (or non-existent) evaluation

Successful business people know their numbers; analytics are used to track every aspect of business to inform future planning and expenditure. However, most businesses fail to capture the one metric that can potentially have the biggest impact on the bottom line. Too often the effectiveness of Leadership Development is only measured at a superficial level using smile sheets (subjective satisfaction ratings) at the end of a program, or worse yet not measured at all. This is akin to basing a leadership development strategy on gut instinct. For a robust leadership development strategy the outcomes of leadership development efforts should be measured using dedicated tools such as 360 assessments, complimented by relevant business performance metrics. These measures should be repeated over time in order to refine leadership development processes and calculate the return on investment (ROI) that Leadership Development provides. While tracking the effectiveness of behaviour change is often avoided because it is difficult, it is not impossible.

Gap 4 – Taking a one size fits all approach

Leadership development is personal. All leaders will have different strengths, areas for improvement, and motivations for making change. A leader who is engaging in leadership development, as the result of a performance management process will have different needs to a high potential future leader. Because of this, a one-size fits all approach to leadership development is sure fail. Successful leadership development strategies should incorporate opportunities for leaders to work one-to-one with a mentor or leadership development Coach. Mentoring and coaching relationships provide individual guidance and the opportunity for leaders to create tailored development plans that satisfy both business and personal goals.

At HR Business Direction we are able to assist you with closing the gaps in your Leadership Development strategy. Contact us here.

Alistair Kerr MPsychOrg; PostGradDip Psych; BPsych
Organisational Development Strategist | Psychologist
alistair.kerr@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
www.hrbd.com.au