Getting Leadership Development to Stick!

It was over dinner with some friends... we were talking about the latest techniques and approaches in delivering leadership programs that I was confronted with an uncomfortable truth - lots of leadership development just doesn't stick!

 

The conversation was really interesting. We talked about things we could do whilst facilitating... techniques for creating the perfect environment for participants to be able to have transformative experiences were discussed - things like matching the environment to the mood being created, using the latest brain science to support unique learning experiences, and so on. An aspirational and inspiring conversation.

Why doesn't it always stick?

From programs I've been involved in (either as participant, program manager, or facilitator), it's difficult to 'hand on heart' say there has always been consistently long-term, sustained transformation in leadership culture.

I've been in the room for many sessions that have clearly provided transformational experiences for participants. My assertion is that the reason the 'transformational experience' doesn't translate to 'long-term transformational change' is because participants are faced with too many culture barriers to take the experience in the room back to work. 

You hear a lot of "hope they don’t try that new xyz leadership theory on me...", "the boss has been to a 'love in', so expect some attempts to try new stuff, but it won't last long", etc.

Getting sticky!

We all know that if you want a new behaviour to become a habit, it takes practice. When we train team members in a new task, it is best practice to give them coaching and opportunities to use the new skill in the workplace - see 70:20:10 below.

It makes sense to me that we give leaders the same opportunity to engage in ongoing coaching and workplace practice to set new practices into habits. My experience is that leaders are sent back into the workplace and expected to run with the new insights with little support and against an existing culture that can be tough to break through.

When I think about supporting leaders, Kotter's 8 steps to leading change model works pretty well in this case. The facilitated session that gets people emotional and pumped up about making change to their leadership practice is just like step 1 of Kotter's model - Establish a Sense of Urgency... Often referred to as a 'burning platform'. It's the spark that lights the flame!

For sustained transformation in the leadership practices within an organisation, we need to consider how we keep the flame burning. The other 7 steps of Kotter's model need to be incorporated back at work. A couple of examples I can think of:

• Forming peer to peer learning groups that can work as coalitions - incorporating online tools such as Yammer, forums, etc. to ensure that time and distance don't become barriers. Accountability for this needs to be built into the program.
• Coaching leaders to build a vision of what leadership looks like in their organisation - ensuring that it is aligned to strategic goals and values of the organisation and includes their people - ie. it supports the existing culture to move forward.
• Providing tools and skills for leaders to bring their people along the journey - whether it's through communicating the vision of leadership, teaching back the techniques that got them fired up in the session in the first place, empowering their people to practice the techniques in their own leadership practice, etc.
• Ensure that the leadership development program isn't just a 'one hit wonder'. Make sure that there are ongoing sessions (online or in person) where participants can continue to check in on their progress and re-experience a taste of the original session that lit the spark!
• Budget for annual reviews on leadership performance against the benchmarks of the program - success should look like the objectives of the initial program in action - sustained and refined on a continual basis.
• Make sure that the feeling that motivated the initial burning platform is spread far and wide in the organisation – see John Stepper's work on 'Working Out Loud'

As I drove home from dinner that night, all I could think was that after the spark has been lit and there's a burning platform for transformational change across an entire organisation, the most innovative thing that I can do is to start disrupting the way that we bring leaders back in to the business! I think it starts with being an unreasonable friend to sponsors and stakeholders to take true ownership of sustained leadership practice.

If you want to make change stick at your organisation connect with me at www.remarkablelearningsolutions.com