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plans that other organizations have adapted and adopted, and that are now commonplace. Similarly, military forces have benefited from personnel being trained in non-military institutions. This migration of personnel and knowledge has resulted in these organizations being more than ever similar in the way they operate.
Regardless of the organization, the skill of being an effective leader is extremely difficult to teach. It is therefore critical to ensure that current and potential leaders are presented with the fundamental concepts in an effective method. This requires a customized, comprehensive training plan that draws upon all available techniques. This plan can be developed based on the successes of other organizations, with changes made to make it compatible with the organization. The plan should go well beyond the initial presenting of information to include the organization’ s day-to-day operations.
This can be accomplished by clearly identifying the core leadership principles that the organization deems
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fundamental, such as the military principles of leadership, and making them a constant focal point. Posting them in the workplace, incorporating them into a strategic plan, using them in employee assessments, and a variety of other methods will help maintain this focus. This will encourage individual employees to routinely consider leadership principles with the goal of including them in the way they conduct themselves in the workplace. It will also expose junior employees, who are not yet trained as leaders, to the organization’ s leadership expectations. Junior employees will thus have a better opportunity to demonstrate their potential leadership abilities, which will greatly assist the organization in identifying these individuals for developing the skills for internal advancement. This comprehensive plan will ensure maximization of the organization’ s leadership potential, which will encourage higher employee retention, reduce the need to attract outside leadership candidates and guarantee the highest levels of leadership from staff at all levels. |
Although it is up to an organization to determine what level of leadership is deemed acceptable, few would argue there is always room for improvement. Once improvement is made a priority, the organization must recognize the value of leadership experience that other organizations possess. It is also important for them to recognize the similarities with other organizations that would otherwise be dismissed as too dissimilar to be relevant. This will grant them a wealth of experience that will not be overlooked when developing or updating leadership training programs.
Ultimately, the programs that fail to offer a clear definition of the core leadership concepts that the organization will enforce can become little more than self-improvement campaigns or motivational seminars that result in no meaningful long-term improvement for the organization.
Brian Raymond is supervisor of plans and permits, Building Division, for the City of Brampton.
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32 Q1 2017 www. amcto. com |