What steps can you take to leverage your strengths and address gaps in leadership development coaching?

One of the most insightful processes that I walk through with clients, is to develop a leadership purpose statement. Successful leaders have a high level of self awareness, and never stop working on this. Developing a leadership purpose statement uses self knowledge about core motivation, strengths, core values and passions, and brings all these elements together. The leadership purpose statement should capture the essence of you, and provides an anchor for leadership, that brings both clarity and direction. After the leadership purpose statement is established, this can then be used to formulate a leadership impact plan. I have seen this approach work very well for many leaders, and future leaders.

A great starting point is to understand, accept, and embrace the significant responsibility that comes with any leadership position. Building upon this foundation can be a great motivator for self-development.

I've found that one of the most effective ways to assess yourself is by using my "Passion/Skill Matrix" model (featured in chapter 17 of my book, "VisuaLeadership"). By identifying what you love to do -- and what you don't, as well as what you're good at -- and what you're not, it enables you to determine what percentage of your time you are spending in your Sweet Spot, Growth Zone, Default Zone, and/or Failure Zone. Once you gain this awareness, it tends to explain a lot -- including why you are or are not engaged in your job, what changes you may need to make, and where you should focus your time and attention relative to your leadership self-development strategy.

A co-learner coaching client described themself as a "perfectionist" and inquired about leadership development coaching. We discovered, discussed and valued feedback as part of the process. They agreed to seek feedback from others despite the anguish and trepidation. The result was significant breakthrough because self-assigned labels and values (e.g. perfectionist, perfection) were identified as blockers to developing collaborative relationships. Perfection was revealed as a shield preventing meaningful exchange instead of the celebrated ideal outcome. We're not perfect and that pursuit sends different signals about ourselves and within the organization. They were shocked when noone gave feedback and that drove home the lesson.

To leverage strengths and bridge gaps in leadership development coaching, the first step is to understand your strengths and challenges. The best teacher for that in my experience is a horse. Why? Because horses survive on strong leadership. If you are with a horse that is free of equipment, so free to engage with you or not, the horse's response to you will show you where you are strong and where you can improve your leadership presence. Understanding your own leadership strengths and gaps can help you coach others.

Self-awareness is a vital executive skill. When coaching senior leaders, I suggest they seek feedback from 6 people on their strengths and growth areas. Once gathered, use the input to craft a clear 'WHY statement' and share your SWOT with your team to build more trust. Simon Sinek says, when we know WHY we do what we do, everything falls into place. When we don't, we have to push things into place. As leaders, we should be striving to create careers that align to our personal mission, vision, and values. When we achieve this we will be able to foster authentic leadership and apply more emotional intelligence when solutions to problems require heart more than head or hands.

What is your objective? An objective is something that you are consistently working towards but may not be 100% achievable. For example, "I always want to be the kind of leader who leaves a lasting and positive impact on all the people who work for me". This is an objective that you can always work towards, you may achieve it today, but what about tomorrow? Now the question becomes, “how do I become that kind of leader? These are the goals you need to set in order to continuously work towards your objective.

Goals are critical for development. I encourage my clients to have short and long term goals to measure their process. We also talk a lot about celebrating the smalls wins which helps them reframe and refocus as they progress.

Goal setting should involve visualising success. Leaders should paint a vivid picture of what success looks like for each competency they aim to enhance. This imagery acts as a motivator and a compass, guiding their efforts. It's about setting a clear destination for their development journey.

As a manager, goals can also contribute to a personal target image. Knowing "...what kind of manager would I like to be and what separates me from that today?.. is an excellent starting point for setting goals that contribute to personal development. Define a goal as a state and consider which partial results show progress on the way to the goal. In this way, goals that serve your own development also work.

Mentors guide you based on their experiences where coaches challenge your thinking and beliefs. Both play important roles and are wonderful resources.

Finding a Mentor is one of the best ways to develop new skills and insights. Working with someone you respect, who is willing to share their expertise and wisdom may give you different perspectives when you’re facing some real life challenges.

One effective strategy is to utilize a combination of resources such as books, podcasts, and training sessions to gain knowledge and skills. However, to truly excel, having a mentor with concrete leadership experience is essential. The key is to ensure a good fit with the mentor to maximize growth opportunities. Additionally, coaching plays a vital role in leadership development. Setting concrete and clear goals, engaging in self-reflection to identify blind spots, and consistent practice are essential steps in the process. By continuously refining and implementing these strategies, leaders can grow their capabilities and drive success in their roles. Learning by trying in practice with support of a mentor and coach is a great combination.

The ability to pivot is a valuable aspect of tracking progress. Leaders may encounter unexpected challenges or discover new opportunities. Being open to adapting their development strategies based on evolving circumstances is a sign of agility in leadership development.

Having a process of tracking is critical to the success of the leader. I make sure I check with them regularly to assess their progress. During that time we determine whether there’s a need to pivot or refine goals.

In order to measure progress, the definition of objectives is crucial. When defining the goal, I recommend describing a target state that you want to achieve. And then to consider which key results show that you are moving towards the goal. This makes it easy to see progress and has a motivating effect, even if you don't develop in all facets in the same way.

The key to tracking progress is the weekly review. You need to keep your development front and center. Breaking goals into weekly tasks or practicing habits or ways of being helps to make the growth more meaningful and realistic. If you are working on developing stronger relationships with your team, how will you do that this week? - In what meetings? - With which employees? - In what way? - How will you know you did it? - How will you know it worked? This is the level of specificity that will truly help you grow!

For Leadership Development Coaching to work, find a way to track your progress. 3 essential steps: 1. Make sure every sessions ends with an action. Even a very tiny one - it doesn’t matter. Have something to do to progress forward. 2. Note it, Do it. Record your intent in a way that works for you. Keep it simple. Journal, list, voice note - just do what’s doable now. Just somehow, help your future self know what you wanted to do by when, and do it. 3. Report back in the next coaching session. This is key - follow up! Often the right next step doesn’t become clear until you’ve reflected on the last one. Tracking progress is about marking where you are and where you want to be in a way that works for you.

Celebrating success in leadership development coaching is vital for growth. Keep a diary to track achievements or get creative with visual representations. Treat yourself with something to mark milestones. Celebrate with colleagues, mentor, or coach to reflect on progress and share success. Recognizing achievements fuels motivation and fosters a positive mindset.

A timeline continuum is a great way to record your achievements and successes. It can also be used to refresh your memory when rewriting your CV or resume.

Rewarding the effort, new habits and playing outside of your comfort zone is crucial as the changes in behavior (new habits) will eventually yield results. It takes energy, focus and attention to work on ourselves. This should be rewarded.

In my experience there’s lots of self reflection needed during the process. The leadership development journey isn’t linear. Therefore checking in with yourself is a pivotal part of growth.

Drawing from my experience as a former HR Executive, I've found that the most effective leadership development initiatives strike a balance between group training and one-on-one coaching. Group training foster learning from trainers and peers, enabling the exchange of experiences. Conversely, coaching allows for targeted skill development and addressing individual challenges. By integrating training and coaching, organizations empower leaders to unlock their full potential and propel organizational success. Clear goals are vital for leadership development programs and coaching. Regular follow-up meetings with superiors to track progress are important.

Some leaders and organizations ignore the importance of celebration, recognition, and rewards for their personal and team accomplishments. Overlooking the significant role these play in building stronger relationships and company culture can have lasting effects. The sacrifices employees make to achieve goals set by their leaders should be regularly acknowledged. Greater motivation, productivity, morale, and engagement across the workforce are a few potential benefits. To foster a culture of appreciation, we need to find creative ways to have fun and reduce stress on the job. Feeling like you don't know where to begin as a leader...build a team charter to set some norms and ask your team! I'm sure they will have some great ideas to pilot.

One must always do inner-work because it is where growth emerges. Having a “lifetime learner” mindset is essential. Understanding that leadership development is a journey without a blueprint.

The following steps will be helpful: 1. Identifying strengths and weaknesses through self-reflection, personality tests, Leadership assessments and feedback surveys. 2. Creating a plan: to address identified gaps and action plan. Perhaps post discussion with a supervisor or mentor. 3. Leveraging strengths - by defining strengths and asking for help to build on the one's required. Align strengths with goals. Mark your progress regularly, and set mini milestones to reach that big milestone.