Efforts Fail: Why do some leadership development efforts not work out?

 

Organizations invest large amounts of time – and even more money trying to develop their leaders.  Unfortunately much of that investment doesn’t get the return it should. 

If you will permit me, here is a scenario for you:

George was seen as an up-and-coming leader in the organization.  The people who worked under him liked and respected him. Those in senior leadership saw his potential, so he was slated to attend the company’s leadership development workshop.

George was ecstatic!  He loved the organization and wanted to move up and contribute as much as he could.  He saw this opportunity as a positive step in that progression.  Plus, he had some challenges in his job that he hoped he could learn how to deal with more successfully.

After he found out he was slated to attend, George didn’t hear much more about the training until about a week before it began.  The email gave him all of the details and he was excited all over again.  Excited, that is, until he looked at his calendar and saw how much he had to do.

Because the training meant so much to him, he was determined and focused while he was there, so he worked hard to get his projects all caught up before he left for the workshop, leaving nothing unfinished to distract him while at the training.

George loved the workshop!  The facilitator was great, the content was helpful, and the food was even good!  He was so motivated by the new ideas and the people he met.  He gained in confidence as they practiced some of the things they learned. As a part of the program he built an action plan.  He left the two days completely stoked about what he had learned and how he would be able to apply it.

 

After the Workshop

 

George awoke the next morning and reviewed his action plan.  He was excited because he knew what he would do to be a better leader, starting today.  Then, George got back to work.  As he fired up his computer he checked his voice mail. 

23 messages. 

His heart sank a little.  As he listened to the messages, taking notes when needed on his next steps, he opened up his email and found an even more depressing sight.  91 emails.  A quick glance found that there was little fluff there – it wasn’t 20 serious emails and a bunch of reading or jokes, it was a solid 91 emails to read, work through, reply to and take action on.

After getting a cup of coffee, George went to say hello to his team.  This took awhile because they had questions and things they wanted to talk to him about – which was only natural since he had been out-of-pocket for two days.  By 9:15 he was back at his desk, ready to tackle all the messages – including the 7 new emails that had come in while he was out.

By 3:00 he had mostly forgotten about his action plan – he remembered it only when he saw it in his briefcase.  He took it out and looked at it wistfully.  He was still committed to working on those items, but they would have to wait, the next project meeting was all day tomorrow. . .

 

Reviewing the Situation

 

I know, the scene played out a little long, but it does set the stage for the topic of this post. Perhaps the situation above sounds familiar.  What is written up to the “After the Workshop” heading looks good; a willing learner, a well-designed workshop, and a person leaving excited about his action plan.  This story might be a bit too rosy – admittedly, not every one who attends training will be as excited and motivated as George, but in the end it doesn’t really matter – because a highly motivated person like George won’t get as much from this effort as he could or even wants to.

Why is that you ask?

Because while most leadership development programs focus on developing a great training program, that is a small part of the overall likelihood of success.  You see, training is an event, but learning (including leadership development) is a process.

We don’t learn important, complex life skills in a brief instant.  In an instant we might be able to gain new insight or inspiration, but then the law of diminished intent kicks in.  The law of diminished intent basically states that the longer you go without acting on something, the less likely you are to do it.

In an event we can get ideas, approaches, checklists and knowledge.  But skills come to us over time – not in a one shot, one time training course (regardless of how well it is designed or how awesome the trainer is). Skills come with practice and application.

Leadership development is a process and as long as those efforts look like events, the return on those investments will never be high.

Much can be written about the specifics that can be done to make the process more effective, but you can start without that list of ideas.  Reread the story above.  Connect it to your situation and then think of two things you can do to make your leadership development process (whether for yourself or your organization) to be more successful.

The key is to make it an ongoing experience, not an event. True leadership comes from growth, not a playbook of guidelines.