Leadership
Best practice leadership learning promotes leading from behind and is based on trends and past practice, not on looking ahead to future needs. Best practice leadership training utilizes rigid, one-size-fits all approaches, and operates in a vacuum. Oftentimes, this results in moulding leaders who are on the cutting edge of mediocrity.
Next practice leadership learning focuses on real value leadership development, emphasizing methodologies such as mentoring and coaching future leaders in a way that will expand their capabilities, promote free thought and enlargement of ideas to meet future critical issues, and encourages development of key competencies such as creativity, innovation, risk-taking and rule-breaking.
Next practice leadership development needs to concentrate on establishing transformational leaders in the organization’s key roles, who will pursue a vision that will inspire followers, create shared cultural and value systems, and are dedicated to reduce boundaries and promote growth of both the organization and its employees.
Future leaders cannot be developed using a framework based only on yesterday’s trends. Leadership development should prepare candidates to not only keep an eye on the bottom line. but also keep an eye on the horizon.
Leadership development should focus on solutions, not just problems, on effectiveness, not just efficiency. In order to be successful and gain the maximum return on investment, leadership programs must be designed with a strategic component, with a look to the future and an element of predictability as to what the organization’s needs will be, what challenges will need to be overcome, and the opportunities.
True leadership capability is not established through controlled, mundane training programs, but rather through development opportunities that create critical thinkers.
Programs that promote these critical elements will allow organizations to maximize their leadership development investment. Furthermore, they will foster the development of a leadership team based on next practice principles that will enable companies to rapidly adjust to constantly changing external environmental factors.
Allan Gardner, PHR, HRMP, MHRM, has over 35 years of experience in the Human Resources field.
Currently, he is an expert Human Resource Trainer throughout the EMEA region and also teaches HR and Strategic Management programs for MBA students at the UAE campuses of Chifley Business School Australia.
http://www.humanresourcelearning.com