6 AM. Every few seconds a chirp-chirp-chirp of an instructor guiding a virtual engagement activity for a “mandatory leadership training” with my husband’s company.
The instructor prompts: “”Think of your R….for embedding the culture in your team and *organization.”
His smart phone – (the classroom) woke us with a relentless parade of the one-word responses. Now the phone is propped by the sink where we brush our teeth (still wearing pajamas) while checking the 100 alerts on the phone and email and the daily news… While the instructor continues her upbeat chirp to teach the latest lesson in the workbook.
A program for which the company invested hundreds of thousands of dollars… and made me think:
WHAT is being learned and internalized from this experience?
This is the new arena of leadership development.
Expensive license fees paid for best-selling authors and canned programs.
Maybe one or two “Aha!” moments stick, maybe not. Maybe one or two wise sound bites stick … then back to business as usual.
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” —Peter Drucker
“A boss has the title; the leader has the people.”—Simon Sinek
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” — Rosalynn Carter
As a culture professional since 2006, I’ve witnessed this phenomenon in hundreds of classrooms (nowadays, via computers and smart phones).
Question of the Week:
“How do we foster true leadership in an ADD world, who create results, retain great talent and navigate people through a volatile and increasingly uncertain future?”
I feel for my L&D colleagues, who face the impossible task of capturing rare attention spans amid the constant speed and noise of the digital revolution.
Like the tail wagging the dog, content dictates the experience. Which often means people with no experience in the job (leadership) are accountable to develop people who have no experience doing the job (leadership), to become leaders.
But in reality, leadership development never happens from cool workbooks, emotional videos, conversations in a ballroom – or smart phones while brushing one’s teeth.
To be fair, listening to good content is helpful. I’m not saying we should eliminate this channel.
But, in 18 years of supporting culture change efforts, I’ve never seen a culture – or a leader – change his or her behavior from these programs. Have you? I want to hear about it!
True leaders develop through motivation + empathy + real-life tests + meaningful feedback.
Through conversations and hard challenges and engagement with colleagues and customers – internal and external.
Through mentorship.
Through failure.
In the face of massive and rapid technological evolution, a rapid decline of workforce loyalty, and the reality of geographical mobility – TRUE leadership is needed more than ever.
Not just from people who can manage tasks and attendance and share their brilliant ideas.
From people who can lead teams to create insights. To unleash imagination, innovation and new ways of serving customers through others. True leaders who build cultures that retain talent through cohesive vision and challenging the status quo.
These kinds of leaders are made, not born. They are grown deliberately through mentorship and coaching from the organization’s wisest leaders.
Rethinking leadership development is the essential work of our time.
How are you evolving this process in your company?
Your future workforce awaits the answer!
#BuildCommunity. #ListenDeeply #MotivateChange #Leadership #FutureofWork