Although
the executive education debate still rages on
whetherleadershipislearned
or innate,
there
is no doubt that the subject is being
taught.
In
October 2003, BusinessWeek reported that 134
companies from 20 nations spent $210 million to enroll
21,000 employees in executive leadership programs.
Since leadership
developmentis not
an event, that's a significant investment in classroom
activities that may or may not produce company leaders
or even better
managers.
A survey of 3,000
leaders and associates in 117 organizations reports
that 63% plan to increase spending on leadership
development programs that 75% of HR executives
surveyed don't give a high quality rating
to.
The paradox of
spending more on what's not working is due to
leadership development being seen as a classroom
event. Yet, you don't fix people by sending them off
to training. Managers need ongoing coaching to get in
the habit of being good leaders.
The survey reported
that two-thirds of the respondents said leaders at
their company exhibited at least one potentially fatal
flaw or "derailer"--a personality attribute that
interferes with leadership effectiveness. Derailers
are more personality-oriented than skill-based and are
more difficult to change than teaching someone a new
skill.
For all the money
spent on them, we still don't know if leadership
programs work.
Bottom
Line:
Leadership development is self-development. Learning
how to not micromanage, not be overly concrete, not
fail to explicitly state expectations and other
unproductive inter-personal behavior only happens
through the increased self-awareness gained in a
personal coaching or mentoring
relationship.
“The crux of
leadership development that works is self-directed
learning:
intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of
who you are or who you want to be, or
both.”
Primal
Leadership by Daniel
Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard
Business School Press)
Sources:Leadership Paradox by Warren Bennis in October 1,
2004, CIO/Insight and Assessment of the state of
corporate leadership by Bridgeville, PA-based
Development Dimensions International
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Leadership is not
just for people at the top. Everyone can learn to lead
by discovering the power that lies within each one of
us to make a difference and being prepared when the
call to lead comes.
Leadership is
applicable to all facets of life: a competency that
you can learn to expand your perspective, set the
context of a goal, understand the dynamics of human
behavior and take the initiative to get to where you
want to be.
Self-coaching
helps us develop our leadership skills, clarify our
values and guiding principles and build our
reputation. Self-knowledge builds the personal
integrity necessary to engage in productive
relationships.
In today's environment
of changing technology and evolving complexity, we
don't have to fake it. Yet, we must keep growing our
abilities to grasp the success we seek.
Learning what we
don't know helps us to understand why we do what we
do. As we become more self-aware, we can consciously
choose how we wish to improve our lives.
Only you know what's
important in achieving your vision of success.
However, we all seek shared outcomes to provide a
foundation for where we want to be. Here is one
client's definition of the foundation for his
success:
"Have you ever
watched, listened, and felt someone tuning a guitar or
other string instrument? That is what it is like to
have the good fortune of connecting with John Agno. He
is a living tuning fork and you're that string
instrument. Today, I have greater self awareness, am
more in step with my calling, and better able to
appreciate the journey, including the valleys, than
ever before. Thanks, John for helping me get attuned
with my LifeSignature."
You, too, can
drastically increase your chances of succeeding in
business and life when
you
learn
from a coach or
mentor
– someone who once stood in your place and
overcame all obstacles to earn success and happiness.
The common thread
throughout history has been that you learn mastery
performance from the master. Whatever quality or skill
you want to develop, you "get it" by hanging out with
people who have it.
Albert Einstein
once said, "We should take care not to make the
intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles
but no personality. It cannot lead; it can only
serve."
Leaders know and
science has discovered emotionality's deeper purpose:
the timeworn mechanisms of emotion allow two human
beings to receive the contents of each other's minds.
Emotion is the messenger of love; it is the vehicle
that carries every signal from one brimming heart to
another.
That is why
leadership development is not an event. It is a
process of participating in respectful conversations
where the leader recognizes his or her own feelings
and those of others in building safe and trusting
relationships.
For human beings,
feeling deeply is synonymous with being
alive.
Give
