How can you make your leadership development program more engaging?

As a social impact leader, I have been delivering and moderating leadership development programs in global setups. The strategy that I use to make the engagement effective is: 1. Always organise ice breaking session to make the environment easy and receptive 2. Employ a storytelling pedagogy to make sure that vision of the engagement is communicated well and the leadership intervention is relatable. 3. Actively ask for a 360 degree feedback from stakeholders to make the leadership program a symbiotic ecosystem

To align leadership program with goals and values, define clear goals, understand organizational values, customize content, promote purposeful leadership, provide meaningful experiences, foster collaboration, offer continuous feedback and support, celebrate successes, and measure impact. Tailor the content to address the unique needs of your organization, and encourage participants to reflect on their values and aspirations.

I try to get participants out of their heads which is where many high-performers live. When we get to experience what we are feeling, the impact is great. Leadership isn't about thinking. It's our behaviours. I also wrap individual coaching sessions around group coaching sessions. We are relational creatures and we learn fast in a group context.

What you do has far greater impact than what you say. He is my take on how to align with goals and values: 1) Define Clear Goals and Values: Start by clearly defining your organization's goals and values. 2) Integrate Values into Program Content: Incorporate your organization's values into the content and curriculum of the leadership development program. 3) Role Model Behaviors: Leaders within the organization should exemplify the values and behaviors promoted in the leadership development program. 4) Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Encourage participants to reflect on their leadership journey and how it aligns with their personal values and organizational goals.

By making the values unique and incorporating interactive activities, real-life case studies, mentorship opportunities, and regular feedback sessions

A blended learning approach, which incorporates different mediums and approaches, is a great way to encourage engagement in any training program. For leadership development, using those approaches to tap into the experiences of the learners is crucial. Give learners an opportunity to share lessons from those experiences in an open, non-judgmental environment.

This is a challenging job. Think of someone who believes his/her methods of being a leader/senior leader are right and being successful at their role, it really takes influence, conviction to the new method, how it makes some feel. Bring real-life people problems, (get to know the team and their job before you do a leadership development program) and focus on how this can be practised in real life. What support you can give, when they walk out of the training program (cheat sheets, behaviour assessment kit, coaching log sheet, etc). Most importantly how you are going to evaluate the success of your leadership development program. You need to enact, do role plays, keep it fun, engaging, and of course what it means to practice the learning.

Use a variety of learning methods like workshops, case studies, role-plays, simulations, and group discussions.Incorporate real-life scenarios and challenges that participants might face in their roles Invite successful leaders as guest speakers to share their experiences and insights. Assign mentors or coaches to provide personalized guidance and support throughout the program. Provide participants with tools and frameworks they can immediately apply to their roles.Encourage peer learning through group projects, peer feedback sessions, and collaborative problem-solving. Create networking opportunities for participants to connect and learn from each other.

In my experience, to enhance engagement in leadership development coaching, motivation is key. I've found that aligning the programme with personal and professional goals, celebrating milestones, and fostering a supportive environment yields remarkable results. Encouraging participants to share successes and challenges fosters a sense of community and accountability. Ultimately, seeing tangible progress and witnessing the positive impact on individuals and teams fuels ongoing motivation and commitment to the journey of growth and development.

Technology allows us to cater to different people and their learning styles. For example, online self-paced courses have made it easier for busy people to learn on their own time. I like cohort-based learning programs, which combine recorded and text-based lessons with weekly live sessions with instructors.

People need to get up out of their seats and participate. Assigning roles to participants and having them act out scenarios relevant to the training material allows them to experience real-life situations and practice applying new concepts. Utilize simulations or interactive games. Presenting real-life case studies relevant to the training topic encourages participants to analyze situations, identify problems, and develop solutions, fostering critical thinking and decision-making skills. Divide participants into groups and assign them projects or tasks. Integrate opportunities for reflection, such as journaling, group debriefings, or guided discussions. Incorporate elements of gamification.

One way to make a LDP more engaging is to incorporate literal "learning journeys." Learning journeys take the participants out of their usual business setting on field trips to businesses or learning environments unlike their own. For example, participants from a for profit organization might visit a not for profit business, or a government entity to get a sense of how they operate, and their similarities and differences. A journey might include participation in a seminar or series of seminars with a university-level subject matter expert. For example, creativity and innovation. The best journeys encourage interaction amongst the participants and the journey's host, and debriefs the participants' for lessons learned.

Ao promover uma comunidade de aprendizagem, os participantes têm a oportunidade de compartilhar experiências, referências, insights e solu??es, enriquecendo ainda mais o programa e criando um ambiente colaborativo e de apoio mútuo.

Incentive as pessoas a reconhecerem seus próprios dilemas, desafios e objetivos a serem alcan?ados. Ao fazer isso, os participantes ser?o capazes de identificar quais competências específicas ser?o necessárias desenvolver dentro da temática de lideran?a. Dessa forma, o programa se torna mais relevante e personalizado para cada indivíduo, aumentando o engajamento e a motiva??o para participar ativamente do processo de desenvolvimento.

Participants need to feel ownership over their learning space. So we design experiences with the belief that the answer is in the room. We build experiences to bring learning out in people to then help them make sense of what emerges. Participant -led can generate much more engagement. It’s not instructor- learner, we all become instructor/learners.

Engaging in a leadership training course should transcend mere checkbox completion. It ought to encompass follow-up mechanisms to ascertain that participants actively apply the acquired knowledge to foster personal growth or enhance their team's development. Training concluding abruptly without subsequent utilization constitutes a squandering of both time and financial resources.

Para tornar o programa de desenvolvimento de lideran?a mais envolvente, é essencial valorizar a comunica??o aberta. Isso significa garantir que todas as pessoas, mesmo aquelas com opini?es distintas, sejam ouvidas. Os líderes podem incentivar a divergência de ideias, visando aprender com a equipe e cocriar o programa de desenvolvimento junto com os membros. Para isso, é fundamental implementar mecanismos que facilitem a comunica??o saudável de diferentes pontos de vista, promovendo um ambiente inclusivo e colaborativo.