{"id":9652,"date":"2012-12-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/effective-leadership-development\/"},"modified":"2021-01-29T19:36:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T01:36:38","slug":"effective-leadership-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/effective-leadership-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Effective Leadership Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of Brandon Hall\u2019s Analyst Insight program, it received a recent member question concerning leadership development. The member wanted to know the benefits or disadvantages of creating a GE-style leadership program that takes recent MBA graduates and rotates them through the organization for a year or more with a focus on learning an organization\u2019s culture and succession planning. The idea sounds great\u2014but what works for GE may very well be a disaster for a smaller, less global organization. The real value of looking at case studies or industry examples is not simply for imitation purposes, but rather to identify those nuggets of brilliance that are relevant to your specific organizations situation and context.<\/p>\n

Warren G. Bennis, the founding chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, said, \u201cThe most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born\u2014that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That\u2019s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.\u201d Although research doesn\u2019t prove the effectiveness of specific programs, many organizations do have leadership development strategies.<\/p>\n

If leaders are truly made rather than born, how are you creating new leaders in your organization? Every organization understands the value of leadership, and any employee being led can tell you whether or not their company has effective leadership. The most important thing to understand about great leadership development is that it is not a program. Great leadership development is a strategy and culture.<\/p>\n

A leadership development strategy defines the goals and expectations for leaders in your organization. It also defines the key capabilities, competencies, and experiences of a successful leader in your organization. Those definitions drive leadership selection, rewards, and the various supporting development programs. Managed in this strategic way, leadership development becomes more than simple lip service for your organization.<\/p>\n

When an organization has defined the strategy and culture for leadership development, then requirements for the supporting development programs become easier to recognize. These requirements generally include:<\/p>\n