The decline of development

I’ve a nagging worry. I’m concerned about how we are all getting our development at work. With the internet it feels like there’s increased information but less learning.

So much has changed since I started in an office - and not just the cliched (e.g. from Banda copying machines to photocopiers to printers to online document sharing).

I’m thinking about all the managers and colleagues that I’ve learned from over many years. They have, in one sense, been my work heroes. People like John Dunnett, Nye Jones, Martin Smith-Marriot, Jim Skirving, Louise Davies, Mike Gummerson, Lou Macari, Katherine Bond…

What’s happening? (leader/manager challenges)

The present-day leader/manager has three big challenges that didn’t exist when I was starting work, as my children are now:

1. Firstly, in-house Learning and Development departments are thin on the ground. The training teams where I learned my trade, shared ideas, practiced, reviewed, refined and improved, no longer exist in the same way. I know of one large, national business where there is no internal training resource. None.

2. Secondly, budgets for external training have, in many cases, been eroded or are non-existent. Is it seen as less value added because in a world obsessed with measurement its impact has always been hard to measure. In the deep-pocketed world of financial services where I worked for many years the opportunity to go on a course - many of which were excellent (“going on a course” often gets a bad press) - was often available. A colleague of mine in the training team once went on a week-long Creative Thinking course. A whole week. What luxury that seems now.

3. Thirdly, leaders and managers are so much more player managers than ever before. They are time poor. They simply don’t have the time to have 1-1 conversations and when they do the coaching aspects (personal and performance development) are minimal. Leaders and managers who do prioritise their people and the development of their teams, then end up “doing their own work” and playing catch up outside of core hours or into the evenings and weekends. They’re constantly in a rush which is not fertile ground for development interactions..

I used to have fantastic conversations with managers who would take the time to talk to me about my work, what was going well and what I could do better. They might talk about my aspirations and my future career direction. They would leave me with questions to ponder, and follow up. They would spark creative and imaginative ideas - even in me.

I just don’t think my children are having these conversations.

So what?

So what are the answers. How do we combine the right-now demands of a fast moving, resource poor environment, with the need to develop people (or help people develop) in a way that works for everyone?

For me there are a number of ingredients to solving this puzzle. I don’t have the answers, and you may have your own ingredients, but I would be watching out for these six things:

1. Where you are getting your own inspiration, enthusiasm and passion for improvement. Look back at your track record of building your capability - through study, through coaching, through trial and error (having continually stretched yourself - with the right support to do so)

2. Are you demanding of yourself in a way that gives you sufficient time to reflect on your own performance as a leader/manager? You are almost certainly demanding of yourself in some ways - e.g. around results, the quality of work, your appearance - but are you demanding of yourself such that you prioritise your own development?

3. Is one measure of your success the degree to which you hire and develop others? Helping them find long term meaning rather than it being just a job. Priding yourself on their growth, their promotions and their future progression in a way that gives you pride and satisfaction. Or are you in it just for you?

4. When everyone and everything around you is demanding of your time, just how much are you there for your people - to answer a question, to give some timely advice/feedback, or to have longer 1-1 conversations once in a while that give the required time to slow down, be curious, explore and plan ahead. Crazy as it may seem, look to build in slack

5. Do you push within your environment to create the space that you and your team need to prepare and plan, both individually and collectively? If you don’t you face the very real risk that you will all be on the treadmill of Do, Do, Do rather than the more high-performance cycle of Do, Review, Plan

6. Do you have what you need as a leader/manager to support others to flourish? To what degree have you the mindset, temperament, knowledge and skills to help people find their own solutions as well as guide them when they are veering off track or even quite lost? (Coaching courses are a great way for you to learn coaching skills as well as giving you time to reflect yourself.)

Now what?

What do you think, whether you are a leader/manager or one of those in my network more specifically in a development role?

Photo unsplash @totoy2001