Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2023 - 33

Despite debate about the differences between manager and
leader, the need for strong soft skills is without question.
As Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das
Narayandas write in Harvard Business
Review, " companies are seeking the
communicative, interpretive, affective,
and perceptual skills needed to lead
coherent, proactive collaboration. But
most executive education programs -
designed as extensions of or substitutes
for MBA programs - focus on disciplinebased
skill sets. "
It falls to learning and development, then,
to bridge the gap between what these
traditional programs convey, and the
broader interpersonal skills tomorrow's
leaders will need to be successful.
For
mid-managers,
success
in
the
business climate.
Here are some core leadership
necessities:
* Visioning and strategic thinking.
* Adaptive leadership and change.
* Optimizing hybrid work.
* Leading with empathy.
* Engaging others.
* Emotional intelligence.
* Leading across boundaries.
* Leading inclusive, employee-centered
cultures.
Determine Your Program Impact
Having identified clear objectives enables
you to determine the success of your
program. If you have met your objectives,
your program has had an impact on what
is important to your organization.
Professional development should not be
approached as a " quick fix " of generic
workshops with the hope that new
leaders will transition easily and have
learned what they need to lead. In the
a
variety
of
competencies have emerged as critical
for
ever-changing
Let's revisit how to identify your
program's determinants of success
when you write your program
objectives. A structured program
results or impact map is a good way
to capture these measures. Here are
questions to help you:
* What are the most critical outcomes
to measure? Attempting to measure
too many factors might create
unnecessary extra work.
* Who cares? Identify your key
stakeholders
and
what
they
deem most critical for leadership
development and performance. Be
wary of pressure to over-collect data
and overanalyze.
* What can be measured? 360-degree
feedback and focus groups can
reveal behavioral changes. Action
plans developed and implemented in
the field throughout the program can
serve as real-time measures of how
participants employ what they learn.
Whereas end-of-program surveys will
measure participant opinions of the
program but not necessarily behavior
change. Post-program data can be
invaluable in identifying opportunities
for continuous program improvement.
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - FALL 2023 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
Leadership Transition Report published
in 2021 by DDI, 55% of leaders having
a difficult transition said they got
leadership training, and only 14% said
the training they received was high
quality. By comparison, 30% of leaders
with smooth transitions considered their
development high quality.
There are many points of impact
that affect a leadership transition. A
blended cohort learning experience
including individual leader assessment,
new content, feedback, coaching
and applied learning for new and
experienced leaders will afford rich
diverse learning experiences.
Consider launching a full-length
pilot
program. A pilot can be invaluable for
testing your design, development and
impact before launching an ongoing
initiative. Consider in advance how to
scale the program and any changes
required based on feedback. Gather preand
post-program feedback. Feedback
should be collected
throughout
the
program, not just at the end. Collecting
feedback during the program enables
participants to yield information while
their experiences are still fresh.
Wherever There are People,
Competent Leaders
Will be Needed
As the workplace changes and new
technologies are introduced, there will
always be a need for competent leaders.
Whether you decide to develop
leadership talent, " buy " by hiring from
outside the organization or employ a
blend of both strategies, there is no
single right answer except the one
which is right for your organization, your
circumstances and your objectives.
Susan Franzen is vice president of
strategy and leadership at AXIOM
Learning Solutions and leads the
organization's strategy and leadership
practice, where she works with
organizations to define and clarify
organizational strategy, align learning
initiatives to strategy and evaluate
program effectiveness.
David Hosmer, Ed.M., is a principal
consultant with the strategy and
leadership practice of AXIOM Learning
Solutions. He is an HR advisor, career
coach,
consultant
advisory,
and
author
with
expertise in high-potential coaching,
career
diversity/equity/
inclusion/bias, leadership development
and organizational development. Email
the authors.
33

https://media.ddiworld.com/research/glf21-leadershiptransitions_final.pdf https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-future-of-leadership-development https://media.ddiworld.com/research/glf21-leadershiptransitions_final.pdf https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-future-of-leadership-development https://axiomlearningsolutions.com/slp https://axiomlearningsolutions.com/slp https://trainingindustry.com/glossary/360-degree-assessment/ https://trainingindustry.com/glossary/360-degree-assessment/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2023

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