I’ve been an army officer, sports coach, and HR manager. Now that I’m a business owner, I’ve reached the resolve that early career leadership development is crucial to one’s success in building a solid unit. It’s also one of the most strategic ways to challenge and push yourself to continuously work toward achieving your full potential.
An early career leadership development program does not have a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s never too early to start since it’s a great way to ensure a healthy leadership pipeline. A good program has clear goals and specific metrics and is tailor-fitted to a business’s unique needs.
Let’s discuss how early career leadership development can make a difference in your business and why you should invest in this strategy early on. We’ll also discuss the biggest and most common mistakes related to it so you can avoid falling into the same traps. Then, I’ll share some tips on developing your own early career leadership program.
The Biggest Mistakes in Early Career Leadership Development
Career advancement is challenging and daunting for most people. A friend recently talked to me about her niece, who was hesitant about signifying her interest in a vacant leadership position in her company. Despite my friend’s encouragement, her niece decided to pass on this opportunity, thinking she should let others who have been in the company longer than her first take a stab at it.
This is perhaps the biggest and most common mistake in early career leadership development — waiting for the perfect time to take that first step. The thing is, that “perfect” time may never really come. Someone else you think is more deserving will always be there. You may never possess all the traits expected in excellent leadership. Juggling your time between family and work may never become easier.
Truth be told, these are all just excuses holding you back from working toward reaching your full potential.
Remember, it is never too early to start. Leadership skills won’t magically appear the longer you stay in your current position — you must actively work on them. What better way to do that than to commit to an early career leadership development program?
On the other hand, many businesses also commit the same mistake — waiting to invest in early career leadership development. Some organizations wait until someone is promoted to a leadership role before they launch a leadership development program. This wastes time — your new leader will have to juggle their work responsibilities and commit to the program instead of just focusing on crucial leadership tasks.
Your business will profit more if your new leaders hit the ground running rather than having to spend the first few weeks or months in a leadership development program.
Benefits of Early Career Leadership Development
Early career leadership development offers many benefits, especially for small businesses eager to boost their chances for success in a demanding, dynamic industry:
- Ensures a healthy leadership pipeline
- Fills potential leadership gaps in the organization (due to retirement and resignations)
- Helps build the kind of leaders the organization needs
- Encourages employees to strive to reach their full potential
- Helps improve business results, such as engagement, motivation, collaboration, and productivity
- Helps build strong business networks, especially with senior leaders eager to mentor or coach emerging leaders
- Easier recovery from mistakes since they won’t be as damaging to your early career than if they occurred later on
Tips for Early Career Leadership Development
Here are some great tips I’d like to share with you on developing a successful early career leadership development program:
1. Define Your Goals
All types of leadership development programs need well-defined goals. You must also ensure that these are aligned with organizational needs so you can provide solutions to different issues.
Consider these questions:
- Are there leadership gaps in any departments, or are there any unfilled leadership positions? There may be vacant management posts needing immediate attention or a need to create new leadership roles for certain departments or business functions.
- Are you expecting dramatic changes in your leadership roster? Some leaders may be retiring soon, or others may have signified their intent to leave the organization. You must ensure these vacancies are quickly filled to prevent disruptions and adverse effects on workplace efficiency and productivity.
- What kind of leaders does your organization need? Some companies require hands-on leaders, keen on being at the forefront of business operations, while others prefer visionary leaders who are highly effective in inspiring others to reach their full potential.
It’s important to know exactly where your organization stands, where you want to be at a given time, and what you need to do to ensure you get there.
2. Identify Your Potential Leaders
Whether you’re looking for emerging, mid-level, or senior leaders, you must clearly identify strong candidates for the leadership positions that need to be filled. Developing specific leadership competencies will effectively help accomplish this task.
The most critical leadership competencies can be categorized into 3 groups:
Leading Others
- Effective communication
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Conflict resolution
Leading Oneself
- Integrity
- Work ethics
- Leadership stature
- Adaptability
- Self-awareness
Leading the Organization
- Ability to affect positive changes
- Pivotal decision-making
- Innovation and risk-taking
- Strategic thinking
- Defining visions and missions
3. Personalize Your Approach
For leadership development to be truly effective, you must consider each individual’s unique needs, goals, and personality. Tailor-fit your approach to maximize their potential and make the most out of your early career leadership development program.
Match your training techniques with the leadership level of your participants. For emerging leaders, coaching, mentoring, and leadership workshops may be your best bets in enhancing critical leadership skills.
Consider the 70-20-10 framework in leadership development where:
- Experiential learning makes up 70% of leadership development (outdoor training, immersive experiences, work-based tasks)
- Social learning makes up 20% of leadership development (coaching, mentoring)
- Formal learning makes up 10% of leadership development (structured training programs, seminars)
Complex, multi-faceted early career leadership development programs are encouraged for enhanced learning transfer and on-hand experiences in proper application of learnings to actual workplace scenarios.
4. Communication Is Key
Be clear and concise when relaying messages so participants know exactly what they’re getting into and what’s in store if they commit to the program. Consider sharing stories to further enhance the experience.
Stories quickly rouse interest, accelerate relationship-building, and increase engagement. They also help boost memorability, establish stronger connections, and build trust, making them surprisingly exceptional tools in business.
Have you ever met someone you quickly warmed up to simply because you could easily relate to them? They probably shared a story about a childhood experience or a recent incident — something you can easily understand and empathize with.
In business, you can share personal stories, too, as long as they feel natural and genuine. It’s a great way to break the ice and quickly establish connections.
5. Establish Leadership Values
Early career leadership development programs are great ways to influence and establish core values in your leaders. It’s also an excellent strategy to shape promising individuals into the type of leaders your business needs. Values are what determine how leaders execute their tasks and responsibilities.
Here are some core leadership values you should foster early on:
- Accountability
- Respect
- Integrity
- Authenticity
- Transparency
- Empathy
- Passion
- Resilience
- Commitment
6. Evaluate Your Results
A leadership development program doesn’t end on the last training day — the last stage is the evaluation phase, where you measure the program’s results. You must ensure that the learnings acquired during training are effectively translated into the workplace.
Additionally, keep track of the program’s progress by regularly checking in with the participants while the program is ongoing. Uncover possible issues and determine whether or not the strategies you’re employing are truly effective and relevant. Constant monitoring allows you to make adjustments when problems arise long before they balloon into complicated dilemmas.
Here are some metrics you can utilize to determine the effectiveness of your early career leadership development program:
- Number of participants
- Number of participants who utilized each of the available training methods
- Number of participants who were promoted to a leadership role after the program
- Comparison of the participants’ skill levels before and after the program
- Total cost of the early career leadership development program
- Return on investments for the business
Final Thoughts
Investing in early career leadership development can make a significant difference in your business. Well-designed programs bring about enhanced team engagement, improved efficiency, and higher productivity. Furthermore, when a company helps its employees and leaders reach their full potential, they end up with driven people eagerly working together to achieve common goals.
At Sancus Leadership, we have helped countless businesses develop leadership development programs tailored to their unique needs. If you’re keen to know how an early career leadership program can make a difference in your company, book a free call with us, and we’ll happily guide you through it!
