“Leadership development is not about this year’s new idea or a new program”
-Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author
This week, I have fielded calls from three different coaching clients inquiring about leadership development training for upcoming 2022 activities. It’s not unusual for this time of the year, in fact, I expect the next few weeks will likely follow the same pattern. However, I’ve always operated a little different from other executive coaches when providing training on how to develop better leaders. Let’s dive into the ‘why’.
My ethos is that instead of focusing on next year’s new idea or system, leadership development should make their leaders better so they can operate at their fullest potential. To be clear, when I speak about leadership, we are specifically referencing employee coaching.
Now, I love to give my subscribers the inside scope. So today, I’m going to share three tips that will develop better leaders within your organization.
1. Develop better leaders in your organization by avoiding shiny new tools
I want to make this clear, I don’t mean that you should stop being open to learning new ideas. I’d be crazy to think that because that’s what I’m all about! Instead, it is a reminder that you should not abandon a leadership program or principal that is well aligned to your office culture or long-term business goals in pursuit of something that doesn’t align with your values or goals.
Before you start looking for something new, I recommend that you review what you are currently doing to see if there is any poor implementation or execution that is holding you/your team back. In that case, see what you can revamp to an existing program.
On the flip side, if there is a lack of buy-in or commitment to the program by employees and leaders, then maybe it is time to see what other leadership approaches are out there. While I personally believe our approach here at Jamail Development Group is the best, I admit, I may be a little biased *wink*.
Regardless of the program you choose, the key to success is to be great at 12 critical skills rather than be average at 50.
2. Develop better leaders in your organization by understanding the knowledge gap and filling it in.
The knowledge gap refers to the space between teaching an idea and effectively implementing it. I can’t repeat this enough, many organizations train or teach leadership skills, but they don’t effectively practice or sustain it. This is wholly inefficient and a waste of personnel’s’ time and resources.
This was often the case in the conversations I had with my clients this week. In our dialogue it often pointed to inconsistent coaching or poor coaching skills. More specifically, either they don’t know how to be better leaders and therefore need to be taught, or they know how coach but do not practice it out of fear of failure.
The key to filling the knowledge gap is to go a step beyond training in theory to instead practicing, implementing, and committing to an effective coaching strategy. Essentially, we need to teach and develop our leaders and mandate that they coach. It is important to be mindful that we are never too experienced to stop learning and developing, especially in our capacity as leaders and coaches. I mean look at professional athletes, they practice until the day they retire- and so should leaders.
3. Develop better leaders in your organization by implementing an ongoing weekly or monthly training program.
*Chuckles*…This is actually the key to implementing tip one and two. An organization must look at implementing a simple but consistent leadership development program. Here, having a program that is engaging and valuable to those attending becomes important. It should be a program that leaders at all levels of the organization attend and participate in; be virtual or in person or it can also be done internally or externally. Whatever frequency you choose for your organization, be it weekly or monthly, the success of this program will be determined by those who commit to applying it.
A Word of Caution!
We often think that it’s leaders who fall lower in the organizational chart that need the most coaching and development. Stop. Please take it from someone who address this issue every day, leadership training should incorporate those above us, below us (and us!). Remember, it always starts with me!
Hey, you! Yes, you! Have you checked out my newest book, Serve Up, Coach Down ? If not, what are you waiting for? It has more great tips on how to become a better leader.
