Your organization is unique and if you bring a leadership program in, rather than sending people out, it will better satisfy your needs, serve more people AND can be more cost effective.
1. Look at your needs. I often ask my clients: What improvements do you want to have? What are your goals? What will you take as evidence that the program was successful?
2. Look at your successful leaders. What do they have in common? List those traits and behaviors that work for your organization. Be specific. Look beyond your top leadership as you might find successful leaders throughout the organization with traits you would like others to have.
3. Who do you want in the program and what are their needs? Before you hire someone to create the program, look at where people are currently and how you want them to develop. It is OK, and often beneficial, to have people from different levels in your organization together. In terms of content, there is no point in doing training on a skill your leaders have already mastered.
4. Design the Curriculum. I am often asked, ”How long should the program be?” My response is that it depends on what you need to train! We then go over the desired outcomes and design the program. Form follows function!
5. Evaluate and revise. Be sure your evaluation asks how they are going to implement what they have learned, not just did they like it. Check back later to see how they used what they learned and what they would love and need as a next step.
Leadership development is a process and a worthwhile investment to provide people with necessary skills that will make your organization even better. Don’t wait. Your leaders need it now!