Leaders are born or created? It is usually a combination of both aspects- inborn attributes as well as some skills or traits that can be developed. What this means is that while nature has some role to play in who becomes an effective leader, a large part of it is also connected to nurture or leadership training. With the right kind of development and training interventions a high potential individual can be transformed into an inspirational leader. There are many leadership programs for experienced professionals that help with that.
Some ways to do this are as follows –
Identify the right competency / skill gaps – Sometimes organizations simply roll out leadership trainings in a generic manner. That does not always have the requisite impact in terms of making the leaders more effective. So spend time and effort in identifying the right competency and skill gaps, and design the developmental initiative according to that. That is what will ensure effectiveness.
Make it personalized – Going a step forward from the above point, it is important to make it personalized to each leader. The skill gaps are unique to a person and since these are all business critical roles with key individuals in them, making the training as personalized as possible is important.
Use the right tools and technology – When it comes to leadership training, there are new trends surfacing each day. Many of these trends are connected to using newer forms of technologies and better tools to make the learning and absorption process more effective for the leaders who are part of it. Hence being aware and exploring these for applying will result in leaders who are more effective.
Create a leadership support network – When training leaders, one of the best ways to ensure effectiveness is to create a peer support network for the leadership pool. It reduces stress, allows them to engage with peers in similar situations and facing similar challenges, and enables them to keep improving themselves. It enables a spirit of collaboration as well as healthy competition. So the training should have an element of this.
Give them projects that help them apply – Design or place them in short term projects as part of their training, that give them the opportunity to apply what they are learning. Such experiential training needs to be embedded in the leadership development programs and used extensively.
These are some ways in which your leadership training can have a significant impact on improving the effectiveness of leaders. The number of leaders you create will not matter. The quality will.
