The One-Group-All Approach to Leadership Development

I’m speaking at the Association for Talent Development’s conference in Las Vegas this week about WorkJoy’s “one-group-all” approach to leadership development. At the risk of ruining the surprise, this week’s newsletter will dive into that model.

Let’s start with defining “leadership.” There are a gazillion books out there on the subject, but the one that I keep near my desk is The Leadership Challenge . Based on decades of research on the qualities that makes leaders worthy of follow-ship, the authors have honed their definition to this:

“Leadership is an observable pattern of practices and behaviors, and a definable set of skills and abilities. And any skill can be learned, strengthened, honed, and enhanced, given the motivation and desire, along with practice, feedback, role models, and coaching.”

So, if leadership is a definable set of skills, then leadership development must offer leaders multiple, engaging, personalized ways to learn.?

If you are innovating your own development, wanting to develop the leaders on your teams, and/or exploring a holistic approach to leadership development for your organization, I offer my three-part long-term investment approach.?

One-to-one - through coaching.

The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as, “Partnering with leaders in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Coaching is a program, a process, and a mindset. Coaching begins the development journey, giving leaders permission to invest in themselves, removing barriers to learning so leaders can optimize workplace programs, deepening the learning from skill-building, and providing a safe space to practice the new skills.

I have seen coaching unleash courage and creativity in my clients, helping them see challenges through fresh perspectives. Prioritize which leaders are most open to coaching and partner with them to set clear development goals. Regularly check in on progress. And use coaching to reinforce key messages from other learning offerings.

If you’re new to coaching, message me and I’ll happily talk you through it. And watch for an upcoming issue exploring the why, what, and how.?

One-to-group - through training.

I could spend multiple newsletters talking about training. My biggest frustration is seeing organizations take a “spaghetti on the wall” approach - throwing unconnected skill-building opportunities at employees without connecting back to development plans, business initiatives, or strategic objectives. Commanding the “what” without a compelling “why” will not make the learning stick.?

Instead, consider the skills you need your leaders to demonstrate effectively and consistently and ask:

• WHY is this skill important in our organization?
• WHAT behaviors make up this skill?
• HOW can leaders best learn this skill?

Then ask:

• HOW can we deliver the skill-building?
• WHO should receive?
• WHEN should we deliver?

One-to-all - through leader-focused design thinking.

Consider your talent processes from the perspective of leaders. What do I mean? Let’s start with recruiting. Are you asking candidates questions that address those critical skills you need all leaders to demonstrate? Or are you planning to just teach them after they’re hired? How about performance management? Are you holding your leaders accountable for demonstrating those critical skills? Do your leaders have development plans? How do those plans shape their readiness for succession? And is your total rewards approach recognizing leaders for the leadership skills you want them to demonstrate? Put leaders at the center and innovate processes with them in mind.

Wrapping up.

Can you have coaching without training to reinforce? Yes. Training without coaching as a support? Sure. Can you design programs that ignore the needs of leaders? Absolutely. But why - when we can do better? Let’s give our leaders every chance for success and creative opportunities to learn, strengthen, and hone their skills.

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Tina has played at the intersection of humans + technology + work for more than 25 years. A consultant, speaker, and educator, she is the founder of WorkJoy , partnering with organizations to unleash the potential of their humans. WorkJoy helps develop leaders through 1-to-1 coaching, 1-to-many training and team facilitation, and 1-to-all speaking engagements.

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