The Point: If you have a started a company and want to expand in the next couple of years, then you need to understand the way American work demographics are changing. As more than 10,000 employees have already reached 65, the typical job scenario where there were hundreds and thousands of applicants for a limited number of positions is about to change. Hence, if you need to talent to drive your company forward, it most probably has to come from within. In this article, we list down 5 tips to create a leadership development program that fulfills this purpose… Enjoy!
#5 List Down the Leadership Challenge(s) That Needs to be Addressed
To start off, the very first thing you need to do is prepare a list of essential leadership challenge(s) that need to be tackled in the development program. For instance, you need to have a rough idea of what kind of leadership team you want to run your organization, and the crucial talent and abilities should they posses.
#4 Honestly Evaluate Where Your Team Stands Now
Now that you have listed the goals for the leadership development programNext, you have to indentify the strengths and weakness of your team to determine how close or far away they are from achieving those goals. Ask yourself:
- Is my team organized?
- Can they motivate their subordinates?
- Are they organized?
- Do they communicate effectively?
- Do they exemplify ethics and gravitas?
- Can they resolve conflicts? (Also see which team member actually causes the conflicts)
It will be better than your list down the goals and the answers to the above questions side-by-side. Leave some space in between to write down the solutions required to fill the gap.
#3 Take your Team On-Board
Once the ‘paperwork’ is complete, you need to interview the strongest leadership candidates in your firm to determine the best practices for applying those skills. Since they are the ones being trained, the feedback of your team is highly important, especially when it comes to assessing factors like:
- The most rewarding (and challenging) aspects of the job
- The best strategies for employee motivation and conflict resolution
- The best strategies for measuring success
- The ways in which the company should hire and coach new employees
#2 Choose the Best Training Method
If you are dealing with multiple employees and managers that need to be trained for future leadership positions, then you should look for a variety for training methods. Encourage them to take on online courses and improve their reading. There is a great wealth of unearthed leadership literature, plus new webinars and podcasts that they should stay vary of. Plus there are seminars, retreats, presentations, and personal mentoring. The method you choose depends on:
- The skills that are need for leadership development
- The accuracy of gauging feedback of that method
- The time you want the effects of the training to last
#1 Hire a Leadership Coach
While the above-mentioned training methods are highly effective, there is much benefit in hiring a leadership coach. A leadership coach can help in the following ways:
- By easing your transition from a specialist to a all-round leader
- By acting as your sounding board and offering you valuable insights for self-improvement
- By brining additional expertise to the table
- By focusing on a key leadership challengebehavioral (such as the inability to confront bad employees)
Summary
If you want to secure the future of your organization, you need to invest in your existing talent to become the leaders of tomorrow, and this can only be achieved with a robust leadership development program.
If you’d like more information about Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services, consisting of Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development through ‘The Leadership Challenge’ methodology, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders use the CONTACT US page of this website.
