The world has changed, and so has the way we learn.
As a kid, I used to stare at the back of my cereal box in the morning, trying to fill in the blanks of whatever trivia question they were asking me that week. I'd meticulously read every word of that box cover and try to remember it all.
Nowadays, kids don’t even look at the box cover; they scroll through their phones while they eat breakfast and answer questions on QuizUp. (And you are probably learning way more than me.)
We have, as a society, come a long way in terms of what we believe leadership development is and how the learning process work. It was once thought that content and material were the most critical factor in developing leaders and positively impacting the culture. But now we know that innovative technology, ideas, activities, and, most importantly, changing behavior make a leader successful and drive cultural transformation.
So, how do you drive behavior change in your culture? First, you must understand exactly what behaviors drive performance at your company or organization. Then, you can begin to map out a plan for shifting those behaviors, and here are some ideas for getting started:
- Create opportunities for employees to share their ideas about how leadership development activities or events could be different or better. This will give them ownership over the changes being made, making them more likely to participate actively in making those changes happen!
- Tie any learning and development activity to your employee’s daily tasks. Provide feedback on performance regularly. This helps them see the value and application to their scope of work, and also an opportunity to know where they stand at any given time and gives them an idea of what they need to do next time if they want better results than the last time!
- Offer regular follow-up sessions where you can meet with individuals on your team to discuss their progress and areas where they need support moving forward with their professional development goals within your organization's culture.
- Create a learning culture by ensuring everyone knows how they can improve. If there's no room for improvement, there's no reason to keep trying. The best way to start this process is by ensuring that people know how to learn more about their jobs and careers.
- Content is still important, so provide resources such as books or conferences to help your team grow professionally and personally. These can be offered as part of an employee's benefits package or as a reward to employees achieving certain milestones in their career growth within your organization.
- Set money aside to invest in these sessions, activities, and innovative technology to enhance the learning experience.
- Ensure employees feel empowered to make decisions by giving them more autonomy over their work schedules and daily tasks. Employees who feel they have control over their lives and work are more likely to be engaged.
- Encourage teamwork by rewarding team efforts rather than individual ones. When everyone feels like they're part of something bigger than themselves
- You can build a culture of mentorship within your organization. This will allow your employees to feel comfortable approaching your mentors with questions. These mentors will also help drive the discipline for you.
This may seem like a shift from one end of a spectrum to another from "content & workshops to "behaviors", but it's actually quite profound: instead of just "learning about things, it's learning how to do things differently. We're training ourselves to change our mindsets about work and success, then act on that.
Ultimately, the key here is understanding and remembering that Leadership is not a one-time thing but a constant process of learning and growing.
