You’re looking for a leadership development program and are prepared to part with your hard-earned money for it. In exchange, you want viable skills that will immediately produce results. Maybe you’re wondering how to radiate executive presence, or how to lead through challenging times. An executive coach can guide you to success.
As you examine the different choices you have for an executive leadership development program, keep these six key ingredients in mind. It may be that you will need a combination of scholastic and company specific training to master all of these key requirements.
5 Key Ingredients to Have a Successful Executive Leadership Development Program
-
Maintain a competitive advantage in a fast changing world.
Training and developing employees demands a constant inflow of fresh ideas. The last thing you need in a leadership program is outdated ideas. There are some essential and evergreen ways of thinking and managing and there are fads and flash-in-the-pan theories that are promoted, then discarded when they fail. Make sure your program offers time-tested and fundamental strategies. And that they show you how to incorporate these truths and competencies in with today’s cutting edge.
For example: The elements of good communication are traditionally essential. How do these need to be modified or adapted to fit the possibility of a 24/7 always-on-call work week?
-
Essential Skill-sets for Your Growth.
An appropriate executive leadership development program should give you the skills necessary to take your leadership to the next level. You should expect advanced analytical tools to help in your decision making. It should cover all aspects of management acumen. You’ll want to see stretching and growth in communication and interpersonal skills. And you should get feedback on your management style and how you appear to others.
Avoid cookie-cutter programs where a one-size-fits-all style of management is taught. Your strengths and your personality need to be recognized and molded to become the most effective leader YOU can be.
-
Ethics.
Today more and more executives are pulled between conflicting expectations. Stakeholders expect executives to keep employees happy and reduce the bottom line. Leaders must balance what is best for the company against the bonuses that are increased by short term thinking and actions. Make sure your program moves beyond simple government compliance to true ethics so you can create a company culture of right behavior.
-
Roles and Missions of an Organization.
To be effective as a leader, you need to know the roles, support requirements, and missions of each part of your organization. It’s easy to neglect what you don’t know or understand. And you can better support those areas when you know their needs and goals.
-
Sector Specific Training.
At times you need to delve into your particular industry to discover what great minds are doing successfully in your arena. Sometimes universities will join with sector companies—like grocery industry executives—to give training specifically to them. This drills down into the problems and structure perhaps found only in your industry. It can be an invaluable component of your executive leadership development.
It may be that one executive leadership development program cannot do all these things for you. But seek the program that will deliver the most and the best of these essential keys for powerful leadership.
This article may be reprinted or forwarded to colleagues and friends as long as the above copyright notice and contact information is attached in its entirety.
If you reprint this article, please advise us that you have done so and forward a copy of the article, or a link to the web page where the article can be viewed, to Joel Garfinkle.
