Statistically, leaders who champion success, deliver on strategic priorities, hit sales targets and bring out the best in their team members have benefitted from strong, thoughtful, immersive leadership development programs that incorporate effective coaching.
Think about leadership development programs you’ve been able to access over your career or that you’ve sent your direct reports to attend. There’s often quite a bit of disparity in this field.
How do organizations know which leadership development programs will provide the best returns on investment?
Harvard researchers set out to measure the effectiveness of diversity training programs, publishing the mixed results of their experiment in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019. They followed employees of a large international organization for 20 weeks after they completed short online diversity training.
While they found “evidence of attitude change and some limited behavior change” after the training, their results suggested that “one-off diversity trainings that are commonplace” might result in some attitude changes, the training doesn’t change behaviour among those who were the least supportive of diversity prior to training.
The researchers concluded that short, online training sessions had “limited efficacy” among those with the biases the organizations most hoped to influence.
The takeaway? Leadership training in all its many facets deals with changing behaviours, not just learning skills — and so it has to take a better approach, with strong follow-up, to make it successful.
As executive coaches who have seen the transformational power of effective coaching and professional training opportunities, we see five key components for effective leadership development programs.
1. Management Buy-In is Critical
We’ve said before that engaged management support of coaching ensures the organization reaps the best return on investment. Leaders have to do more than say they support learning, they have to walk the talk. This means that management prioritizes learning (even during challenging or busy times). They support staff taking time away from work (with proper coverage) to learn, and dedicates funding to ongoing learning and development. They also actively demonstrate interest by engaging with team members to discuss what they are learning and answer any questions that may arise.
2. Customized Programs are Preferable to Generic
When leaders can participate in programs that offer relevant content that is specific to their industry and culture, they can use what they learn in context and better understand the practical application of the theoretical. Ideally, senior leaders will be consulted by program facilitators and coaches to offer input about the company culture, common jargon and strategic priorities. Leadership development programs and coaching techniques that are tailored to the organization will support success for team members and the company. (Pro tip: Here’s how to find the right coaches to work with individuals and teams.)
3. Time to Learn and Grow is Crucial
As the Harvard researchers discovered, short courses that have participants simply listen to lectures don’t change behaviour. The most effective coaching and leadership development programs are successful because they don’t rush participants. Instead, learning is integrative and sustained over weeks and months, allowing participants time to explore topics in depth – and then incorporate what they learn in the workplace. Managers (stakeholders) are supportive and encouraging, finding opportunities for participants to take on new or expanded roles or special projects to put their learning into practice.
4. The More Robust the Program, the Better the Outcomes for Participants
The most effective options for leadership development include workshop instruction, practical “homework” to reflect on topics and implement elements into professional activities, personalized coaching and powerful peer support. Additionally, leadership development and effective coaching have clearly defined objectives and goals that are specific and align individual goals and values with those of the organization.
5. Measure the Impact to Demonstrate Results
Metrics – being able to quantify the results – of leadership development programs and coaching is important. This involves conducting initial assessments to establish a baseline, then implementing ongoing assessments to measure progress. Not only will you have the numbers to show senior leadership and stakeholders it’s worth the ROI, the buzz for a successful program will trickle down to team members who will be excited to participate.
Powerful leadership development programs and effective coaching evolves to meet the unique needs of each organization and its participants. Innovation, creativity, vulnerability-based trust and good conflict are welcomed and encouraged.
Leaders and team members who are able to participate in these kinds of programs and coaching typically have more professional successes, such as hitting company targets, demonstrating effective leadership, lowering rates of burnout and building stronger team connections.
Coach’s Questions:
What would it take for your organization to access effective leadership development programs and coaching? What needs to change? How can leaders support this kind of professional development?
