How do you balance individual and team LD needs in assessments?

As we know, Leadership development is key to the success of the organization. Every employee will have some short and long-term goals. To advance their career we should encourage them and it should align with our company policy. To know the employee needs and growth assessment are key indicators. Assessments are helpful for employees as well as organizations.

L&D assessments are like a doctor's diagnosis. The best diagnosis gives the best treatment and faster recovery. I believe every training is a solution to the identified pain point. If it is not identified properly then the wrong treatment would create side effects.

Knowing that you hire for traits and needs of the organization/project at hand etc, BUT YOU train for skills; assessments are an essential part of the LD process. The right data provides a launching pad of how to lean more into your strengths and avoid derailers before they become a problem.

LD is like an insurance policy to keep one actively performing and growing. In other words an insurance key to keep the life running when you need it to work the most. Consistency of paying premium is equivalent to continuous learning mindset. LD is an integral part of individuals personal and professional evolution which help organisations build better environments for teams to thrive as an outcome. The biggest gift of LD is enabling a team to inspire new breed of leaders. Research says ~30% productivity can grow with investment in LD programs. The domino effect of LD is highly underrated but unequivocally it is the single most productive program an organisation can nurture.So, don't wait, invest in your insurance - LD today!

Think of it this way: how do you know what you need, if you don't know where you are? Try this exercise: there are two sides of Leadership Development assessments: - Current State - Optimal State Design where you want to be, and understanding where you are is a great exercise to be able to: - Map out all of the steps to get from one state to another. - See the gaps and opportunities in learning. - Take action against each step. Put steps into action, track data and tweak the process if needed. This process acts as a Roadmap, if you will, for LD that everyone can see and get behind. Your leaders will grow further and faster when you break it out this way.

I encourage all leaders to self-reflect and do this often. -Think of the type of leader you want to be, why, and how you get there. -Identify the list of skills needed to go from current state to dream state. -Create a list of steps of how you'll improve. -Allow each person on your team the ability to give you feedback on your performance as well (whether in-person or via survey). We need a new generation of healthy leaders for cultures and people to thrive. This can be you!

Many times we focus development around a next role/ technical skillset, when soft skills are what separate MVPs from Coaches. A leadership development program that focuses on coaching, people management, and leadership is highly valuable. Assessing where individuals are requires a lot of candid feedback from their peers and team, but also careful observation from their leader. Oftentimes, we make the mistake of trying to grow our leaders to be more like us, when often we need our leaders to bring their personal brand to the table. Uniqueness drives innovation, so pull on their individual strengths and grow those to make a greater impact on the business.

Taking a further step back, I would start by having a defined leadership competency model for your organization. What do successful leaders all have in common in your company? What specific, measurable behaviors do they demonstrate? How do these behaviors help further the organization's mission-vision, core values, and business goals? A competency model can help ground the LD assessment and subsequent feedback in a clear baseline, connect LD interventions to business goals, and reinforce skills and behaviors that are aligned with the organization's context and culture.

While of course we must consider personal and observed strengths and opportunities when assessing the individuality of L&D programming, we must also consider interests of our employees. Is this person a subject matter expert, looking for career stability and stagnation? Is this team member looking for growth and development to move laterally into other areas of the business? Is this Individual wanting to climb and expand their reach in another level of leadership? Let’s be sure we’re considering what our teams want in the future and help them identify how they can get there through learning and developing tailored to their needs.

Assessing leadership is an art, and it can't be isolated from the company's values and strategic objectives. Additionally, it's important to evaluate the succession plan to identify areas of skill and competency gaps that need attention.

Tailor Assessments to Individual Goals Recognize that each team member may have unique LD goals. Engage in open and ongoing conversations to identify these goals. Encourage employees to take ownership of their development by setting personal objectives that align with team and organizational objectives. Leverage Team Assessments Team assessments can uncover collective strengths and weaknesses. Utilize tools like team surveys, 360-degree feedback, and peer reviews to identify areas where team LD can have the most impact. This collective insight can inform group training and development efforts.

Can’t agree more! Team health checks with regular intervals help brings focus on specific development areas, and prepare future leaders to respond under diverse circumstances.

In short term let say for 1 year how we do need to understand business goals and capabilities required to meet this goals. The next step need to provide gap analysis and to understand what capabilities required to meed this goals (good to provide L&D analyses which includes interview with managers, staff, observations 360 degree). Then need to create L&D plan and the main point to see which knowledge how will be gain (internal, external training, self study, workshop, etc) deadlines here is very important. It is also very usefull to create Personal Development Plan according to above analyses. Last step-implementation and measurement of L&D activities, so Kirpatric methodology is very useful here. Good luck!

All training should coincide with an individual development plan (IDP) so that it’s clear when, how, and why the specific trainings will impact someone’s growth. Based on the IDP, a company’s standard training programs can be deployed where applicable but each individual must take part in selecting the trainings. Research indicates that adult learning is more effective that way. Additionally, 70% of growth should happen on the job, 20% through coaching, mentoring, and informal feedback, and only 10% in formal training. This balance is critical.

In order to recognize whether LD team development will be successful in the first place, focus a very bright light on the culture within an organization. Is there overt (or covert) competition between departments? Do "your people" only succeed if others do not? Is there a recognition that all teams contribute to the success of the organization? If there isn't a healthy team environment, then A) I'd question whether LD team development initiatives will be successful and B) we first need to start with growing individual Leaders' comfort with the idea of operating as a team. It might be beneficial to invest in outside expertise for this kind of review, as this can be a significant blind spot for organizations.

Using values and leadership frameworks let’s you build organizational competencies that should serve both the organization and the individual. An example would be resiliency .. how do you actually build this .. through working on the skills needed to show resiliency. This includes optimism, and stress management. My experience has been skills that build/reinforce the leader/employee showing up as human in the workplace is movement in the right direction.

My thoughts are influenced by Humble Inquiry (Ed and Peter Schein) and Collaborative Leadership (Joseph Rost in The Art of Followership). The needs of the team ARE the needs of the leader in the sense that modern leadership is about sharing leadership. Everyone is both a leader and a follower at any given moment. So, a "formal leader" needs to enable the team to lead when appropriate and follow when appropriate. The skills needed? Asking questions without biasing or limiting the response. Ask to truly learn, and openly share to built trust. The formal leader needs to connect team members with people across the organization to improve team networking. All of this improves information sharing and performance for the leader AND team.

Balancing individual and team learning and development needs in assessment is about creating a holistic approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of individual and team success. It requires a commitment to ongoing assessment, feedback, and adjustment to ensure that both individuals and teams can thrive and contribute effectively to organizational goals.

Roadmapping this out has worked well in my experience. For example: -Create a 'leadership development' roadmap for each person on your team, including yourself. This is a great exercise to give to each person on your team. -Understand current state and design optimal state. - Once completed, see how these roadmaps intersect, overlap with yours as the leader. It can show you where priorities are aligned within the team, and where they are off. Pull this analysis together and see how it maps agains the company's overall LD goals. This is invaluable information to know if you're growing with the company or the company is growing with you - or not.

Both are very important. That said, if individuals on the team are performing better, it is likely going to increase the overall team performance. That said, it is very important to ensure a good balance. Picking both individual and team goals that align with the goals of the organization and not overwhelming the team will increase chances of success. Small bites can overtime turn into grand improvements.

Categorising the LD programs under categories like 'Knowledge transfer', 'Skill building intervention' , 'Org Mandate Education', 'Reflection & Self Awareness' etc is a crucial step to determine the evaluation approach. Training programs designed for skill transfer, need to be treated as a learning journey, which requires reinforcement and self exercises for internalisation. Involvement of the stakeholders in the evaluation process can be a cumbersome yet extremely fruitful exercise. It helps in fostering LD champions (business front) who understand & appreciate the learning nuances.

Measure and Adapt Continuously assess the impact of LD initiatives on both individual and team performance. Use metrics and feedback to evaluate the effectiveness of the balance you've struck. Be ready to adapt your approach based on what the data reveals. Encourage Peer Learning Facilitate peer learning and knowledge sharing within the team. Encourage team members to share their learning experiences and insights with their colleagues. This not only supports individual development but also strengthens team cohesion.

It's important to give consideration to what values are being espoused by your organization's leadership needs assessments. Is the ability to change the opinion of others what your organization needs most from leadership? Perhaps. Influence is important, but the ability to listen and synthesize creative solutions may be even more appropriate in your situation. Is technical excellence important for a leader to demonstrate? Possibly, but not for every role - particularly not for people leadership. Understanding what values you are looking for in your leadership helps to guide your assessment process - from the design phase all the way to the insights and action planning phase.

I have participated in several leadership assessments that use outside tools, surveys, and values analysis methods that miss the mark because they don't talk to the people the leaders are supposed to lead. Each group of employees, from a team to an entire company, needs leaders who understand how to bring employees to the next level. When I led technical staff, they didn't need technical advice, they needed clarity around business initiatives. When I led new employees, they needed skill and policy training. Give leaders tools to lead specific to the needs of the team, otherwise they just spout textbook cliches.

If all your employees know is a mission statement, value prop and vision listed in an employee handbook packet, forget any kind of planning and evaluation as there is no leadership in the company. period. If the heart of the company - the why - the mission, the vision, the value prop are on display everywhere, are embraced by all levels and discussed daily the assessments, planning and evaluations will be a piece of cake to implement, assess, provide feedback to and make decisions from. Where there is no vision the people perish. The best assessments, plan and evaluations will never compensate for a lack of vision in an organization.

Leadership development never ends, it's a lifelong process that all can take part in - not just the leader of the team. It's about understanding where you are and where you want to go - and why. When you do this, you can create a beautiful LD Roadmap that follows you through your career. We need a new generation of healthy leaders to create the thriving cultures we so desperately need. So take action, learn, test, track, and tweak your process. It's all a 'learning' process, if you will.

AI technologies like ChatGPT are becoming powerful tools to create your own more custom assessment for leadership development that can assess the individual, team, and the balance. I've been experimenting with "quick and custom" leadership development assessments lately built by AI and have been surprised with the results for something that may not be perfect but can get you the insight you need.

Balancing individual and team LD needs in assessments is an ongoing journey that requires adaptability and collaboration. By taking a holistic approach, tailoring assessments to individual goals, leveraging team assessments, promoting cross-training, offering flexible learning modalities, maintaining open communication, aligning LD with team goals, measuring impact, and encouraging peer learning, organizations can ensure that both individual and team development thrive. Remember, a well-balanced approach not only enhances individual skills but also fosters a collaborative and high-performing team, ultimately driving organizational success in a rapidly changing world.

Leadership development seems like it has to be an official process with classes and workshops. After years of consulting, I believe leadership development is an inside job. Working on the thinking behind the leading is just as important as the physical actions of being present and setting direction. Sometimes a pen and a journal (or tablet) can be a leader's best resources so can - Spending time reflecting on decisions, - Thinking about what's next for you and your team, - Modeling self-care so you can return to work with a clear head. If we take care of the inside, the outside will follow.

The main point to remember is that whatever you decide is a necessary skill either for individuals or teams, specify the precise behaviours you’re talking about so you know when you see them (or not). “Team player” for instance isn’t specific enough and means different things to different people. Instead, defining their LD skills as “asks questions to gain understanding and trust” is something you can identify when you see it. Then, assessments need to be experiential - so either on the job or using roleplay. You can then see if the behaviours you want are there and whether they’re using the frameworks or models you value.