Your journey as a leader doesn’t end when you assume that coveted, top-tier position in the company. In fact, your voyage has just begun because you must continuously cultivate, enhance, and expand your skills and experiences to retain your position and eventually move further up the corporate ladder. A leadership development program provides this opportunity and is an excellent way for businesses to stay ahead of the game.
The types of leadership development programs include skills training, coaching, and mentorship. You can also go beyond the confines of the workplace and try volunteerism and outdoor training. Online training is a great option, too, for those keen on flexibility and broader network opportunities.
If you’re looking to train and develop your leaders, you’ve come to the right place! This article talks about what a good leadership development program can do for your leaders and your business and what types of programs you can choose from depending on your unique needs and preferences. We’ll also discuss some of the common leadership development mistakes businesses make so you can avoid the same pitfalls.
Should You Seriously Consider Leadership Development?
You should consider leadership development for your business because it’s a great way to help your leaders excel in their roles. It also gives you a chance to attract top talent within your industry. You can focus on specific leadership skills, depending on your needs and prospects.
Biggest Mistakes in Leadership Development
Launching a leadership development program for your business is no easy feat. It takes some planning and coordination, demands time and effort, and entails costs. However, the benefits are innumerable and varied, making it one of the best investments you can make for your business.
Unfortunately, not everyone gets it right. I remember a story a friend shared when she conducted a leadership seminar for the sales department of a car manufacturing company. She discussed practically everything she knew about leadership, facilitated group discussions, and even led games highlighting their acquired learnings.
Regrettably, feedback from the company 3 months later revealed that the leadership seminar could have been more effective. There were no notable improvements in the client base, number of sales calls, and actual unit sales.
My friend then realized that leadership development isn’t just about sharing useful facts — it has a lot more to do with translating all the information into adopting the right mindset and practices in the workplace.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest mistakes in leadership development:
- Lack of support from senior management. Senior leaders must be interested and invested in leadership development even if they’re not directly involved in the process. These programs usually fall through when accountability doesn’t come from the top down and when top leaders don’t buy into the plan.
- Insufficient budget allocation. Leadership development can be expensive. Books, modules, courses, and activities entail costs. Businesses must commit to setting aside sufficient funds for leadership training and ensure they follow through until the end.
- Failure to translate learnings into real-life scenarios. Adults usually retain only 10% of what they learn in classroom setups. On the other hand, ⅔ of learnings are retained when acquired through experiential training. Businesses must find the most cost-efficient way to develop their leaders and maximize the effects of leadership development.
Benefits of Leadership Training
The gains of a leadership development program typically include:
- Keeps leaders’ knowledge and skills up-to-date
- Provides a suitable venue for setting new professional goals
- Helps build self-awareness and self-confidence
- Provides support for the advancement of critical leadership skills
- Retains high-quality leaders
- Retains employees keen on improving and succeeding in their careers
- Attracts the best leaders from outside
Different Types of Leadership Development Programs
Exceptional leadership requires continuous learning and diverse experiences. It may come as a natural ability to some, but it’s learned and developed over time for most people. This is where leadership development steps in — there are a myriad of strategies to choose from catering to various needs and preferences.
Let’s take a closer look at some of them:
1. Skills Training
Skills training hones in on specific leadership skills, such as decision-making, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. It’s an immersive type of training where current and aspiring leaders are exposed to scenarios wherein they can exercise their learnings.
Examples of skills training activities are:
- Leadership conferences. These allow participants to interact with like-minded professionals in the same field. They’ll have breakout sessions and presentations where they’ll get to mingle and practice what they’ve learned.
- Leadership workshops. Generally, these are geared toward specific competencies. If the workshop is on problem-solving, participants will be exposed to scenarios where their strategic planning and critical thinking skills will be tested. The key is effectively translating their learnings and experiences to real-life workplace settings.
- Public speaking courses. Speaking coherently and confidently in front of an audience is a critical leadership competency. Some are daunted by public speaking, but it’s a skill necessary to ensure proper communication within the organization. Often, excelling in the art of speaking just takes getting used to.
2. Coaching and Mentorship Programs
A coach guides another person to help them achieve their goals, often through a structured approach. On the other hand, a mentor shares their knowledge and experiences with their mentee to help them develop their skills and grow in their professional career, often through a less-structured approach where emphasis is given on establishing a solid professional connection between mentor and mentee.
Coaching and mentoring are great techniques for developing individuals. They’re frequently interchangeable concepts in the workplace since they’re very closely related.
Micro-mentoring, in particular, is fast becoming a trend in leadership development because it provides a time-constrained, easier, and more personalized way to pass on crucial information and know-how from seasoned leaders (mentors) to newbies (mentees) in the leadership scene. It can also target specific leadership skills and allow mentees to immediately apply their learnings.
3. Volunteerism
Providing your leaders diverse opportunities to exercise their strengths will do wonders for their confidence and leadership abilities. One way is to organize community projects in which leaders will be given the chance to volunteer their time and talents for worthy causes.
Volunteerism helps strengthen critical leadership skills by providing hands-on experiences in areas such as decision-making, crisis management, and problem-solving. It can also help establish solid networks that can be useful in business.
Additionally, being part of a group with a bigger sense of purpose fosters unity, engagement, and commitment. Furthermore, it provides a heightened sense of achievement when goals are realized.
4. Online Learning
These days, companies are becoming more geographically diverse. Their teams are united by common goals, not just by location or proximity to one another. This is why interactive online learning is another trend quickly gaining ground lately. By providing their leaders and employees a choice, leadership development isn’t sacrificed despite location differences.
Online learning generally offers a variety of learning styles. Participants can choose from video presentations, leadership quizzes, and simultaneous courses. They can journey through leadership development at their own pace and on their own terms.
Here are some ways online learning can make a difference in leadership development:
- Offers global networking opportunities. You can establish connections not just within your business industry but in the broader global industry as well.
- Promotes psychologically safe environments. Participants will thrive in this setup, especially those who prefer to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Online learning can be an excellent training ground for speaking up, participating in discussions, and feeling more comfortable about being in the spotlight.
- Offers flexibility. Busy employees and leaders can more easily work around an online learning schedule. They wouldn’t have to worry about travel times, can plan the workflow around the program, and can work practically from anywhere with an internet connection.
5. Outdoor Training
This experiential approach to leadership development banks on first-hand observations and experiences that can help enhance leadership competencies. This strategy focuses on letting you practice and apply what you’ve learned rather than just teaching you concepts within the confines of a room’s walls.
Outdoor leadership training provides excellent opportunities for you to exercise crucial leadership skills, such as empathy, delegation, and problem-solving. You also get to experience the wonders of nature, go to amazing destinations, and engage in fun activities with your team.
Here are some outdoor activities ideal for experiential leadership training:
- Whitewater rafting
- Camping
- Mountain climbing
- Scavenger hunts
- Relays/team races
Outdoor training is excellent for business teams like yours who want to foster collaboration, trust, and excellent decision-making. Book a free call with us at Sancus Leadership so we can help design an experiential leadership development program tailor-fitted for your unique needs. We’re always eager to lend a hand in developing future leaders!
