Rethinking leadership development in the COVID era.

How will COVID-era scrutiny change the way we develop our leaders? We ran a global survey to find out.

Today more than ever companies are taking a hard look at their spend. In our new world order, which line items have gone from must-have to luxury status?

There are some obvious suspects: real estate, for one. In our new Zoom-centric era, crown jewel office space is losing its historic cache. And promotional budgets. We can risk appearing tone-deaf in pushing products when consumers and corporate customers alike are making gut-wrenching cost-cutting decisions.

There are others: budgets for events, travel, media and other sources of overhead will all be harshly scrutinized as we plot a path out of the global economic paralysis.

But what about professional development? Even before COVID, the way we train and develop our leaders has been ripe for disruption and a hard look. In our heavily purpose-driven marketplace, leaders are expected to both deliver results and inspire passion and dedication in their teams – and today, that has to happen in the midst of homeschooling, virtual working and fear of the unknown.

We would argue that this is exactly the wrong time to stop investing in our people. Rather, it’s the perfect opportunity to rethink and enhance the way we do that. 

Recognizing the power of this pivotal moment, and with a strong hunch that there is a growing gap to be filled in today’s current mix of professional development programming, our three firms came together to explore the current perspectives, preferences and needs among people leaders about the development courses and coaching currently available to them. 

We wanted to know how leaders perceived the opportunities they currently had access to – but also, what preferences, needs and behaviors were being overlooked? And, how could we use this to inform ways to better support leaders going forward?

Our survey was fielded throughout the month of March 2020, meaning we captured input that reflected a particularly tumultuous moment in time as stay-home orders took hold all around the world. 

We heard from 71 people leaders with respondents in every global region, representing mid- to senior-level experience and a broad cross-section of firm size. in terms of size. 36.6% were at firms over $1bn in revenue and 35.2% from companies below $10m, with the rest falling somewhere in between. 

There were a lot of interesting findings, but overall three key learnings rose to the top: 

1. People leaders appreciate and want more leadership development opportunities, and 77.5% of respondents describe the impact as “interesting and useful” or “life-changing.” 
2. But they desire an increase in both one-on-one and peer-based opportunities, ideally delivered in a flexible way that brings these both together. 
3. There is a desire to take more ownership in the process of selecting and pursuing leadership development opportunities:

• The majority of respondents prefer to turn to their professional network or the internet to find programs rather than their company resources
• And 64.8% stated that they would prefer or be open to funding it themselves. 

And perhaps most pressing and telling, the top shortcoming in today’s offerings is that they are “too expensive.”

So, leaders want more support, but they would like it on their own terms and in a flexible, affordable format that brings together one-on-one coaching with access to peer networks. For companies, a major takeaway is the willingness or interest in self-funding programs, which means that we can all benefit – together with our rising leaders – by reducing barriers through an increase in development programs that are more accessible and affordable. 

The reality is that the future of our global marketplace is currently being shaped by generations defined by their virtual connectedness, openness to new modes of operating, and confidence to start and shape their own career paths.

Gone are the days of charting a one-size-fits-all development path up the corporate ladder, and in its place is a group of future leaders who are much more interested in taking the reins and charting that path on their own. The leaders of tomorrow are prepared to lead in a totally different way. 

And, thank goodness for that. Because if 2020 taught us anything, it was that the old ways of operating are not what will take our world forward. We will have to rethink everything, starting with the way we support and grow our leaders. Let’s give them the kind of accessible and flexible programming that is just as innovative, hard-working and flexible as they are.

***************

This article and the survey that informed it were prepared in partnership by: Westwood International, a B Corp that specializes in global leadership development; StarlingBrook Leadership Consulting, focusing on helping leaders build mental health and mental wealth in their workplace; and Captivating Consulting, a strategy firm helping businesses and executives unearth their unique brand of leadership to amplify their impact in the world. 

Building on our findings, we are coming together to launch our second cohort of a new kind of leadership development program designed to help today’s people leaders using a flexible model that brings together global peer network learning with one-on-one coaching. Awaken the Leader will be a 3 part, virtual program that guides leaders through three core modules to find their own leadership style through internal and mindful exploration, give voice to this in the form of a unique personal brand, and prepare to act on this style in a way that inspires, rallies and guides teams for success.

To learn more and apply for this one of a kind program, click here