Leadership Development Programs May Not Change Skills or Behaviors

You are at a leadership development workshop trying to pay attention. You're checking your smart phone for messages. The speaker is interesting, but you're tuning out. You have a big project due tomorrow and you wish you could be back at your office. You're learning a few things, but all the breaks, lunch, travel time, and exercises seem like a waste of time. Sound familiar? 

If so, read on . . . .

As the Director of Executive Education, I ran a very successful executive leadership development program - The University of Cincinnati Executive Program (UCEP).  About twenty five corporate leaders attended each four hour session. About half the sessions focused on leadership and the other half was business knowledge. The courses and speakers were excellent and the attitude questionnaires were always positive. I believed that participants learned a lot. However, I wanted to explore their attitude more and was in for a big surprise. 

I met with each participant for feedback and coaching after they completed a 360°profile. I helped them to interpret the assessment report and we created an action plan.  The leaders were very open and candid and shared with me their fears and problems, strengths, weaknesses, frustrations  -  their likes and dislikes. We built a level of trust that would have never happened in a traditional classroom setting.

THE PARADOX

I asked the leaders for their honest feedback on the leadership development program and got some big surprises. Several of them politely told me that the classes were interesting, but less than half of the sessions were were important to them. Most had demanding jobs and attending the classes was a challenge. Several mentioned that some classes were too long. All of them believed workshops had to be participative or they would simply tune out.

However, most felt the need for training and leadership development in order to become a more effective leader. They wanted to learn, yet didn't have time or patience. Quite a paradox.

A few asked me for suggestions about how they could learn more in less time and optimize their learning experience.  

That was the start of my executive coaching practice at Top Level Coaching. I found that I could help leaders by using customized individualized instruction. That could take less than half the time of traditional seminar-based programs. We saved a signficiant amount of time by focusing on high priority topics that were uncovered through the assessment. We worked on building their strengths and focused on weaknesses. Travel time, breaks, and unnecessary information were also eliminated. 

Let me tell you more . . .

THE PROCESS

Our unique Leadership Skills Development Program had four integrated components - Assessment, Discovery, Development, and Application.  The key benefits for the company and leader are:

• Time is invested only on high priority needs 
• The leader becomes actively engaged in their own individualized process
• The leader is accountable to the coach, manager and stakeholders for the outcome.
• Travel and seminar time is minimized. 

Discovery
Based on the feedback from the 360° assessment we prioritize key areas for improvement, and create a development plan. The participant and coach meet with the leader's manager to finalized the plan and get their buy-in. We also discuss the manager's role, resources, and milestones of the learning and coaching process. 

Development
The coach and leader meet regularly typically for three to twelve months. Our average engagement is about five months. Ideally the meetings are face-to-face, but we often conduct them virtually. The sessions include discussion, training, online courses, and readings. The coach is always available and becomes a resource and for learning and creating change. 

Application
Each session ends with an assignment to complete before the next meeting. These assignments are designed to apply the knowledge to the job. They could be experiments, discussions with others, or contact stakeholders for their input and suggestions. The leader is encouraged to contact the coach between sessions to discuss specific situations and challenges they encounter. The participant journals their progress, successes, and challenges.

At the start of the next coaching session, the leader and coach discuss the assignment and the results. 

The process is very successful. The leader gets a focused leadership development program customized exclusively for them.

How to Get Started . . .

Call Rob at 513.772.5115 to Discuss Leadership Development

or contact us learn more.

We provide executive leadership and coaching for our clients in Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland,
Columbus Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Louisville, Lexington Kentucky, and Naples and SW Florida.

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