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Clear planning, hands-on practice, and habit-building are the keys to Leadership development training with long term measurable results.

Leadership development training is at a turning point. Organizations are spending enormous sums on learning and development (L&D) programs but struggle to see lasting, measurable benefits. Success is often measured by “satisfaction surveys” and tests of short-term improvements. Additionally, the people skills leaders need, like interpersonal and communication skills, are much harder to evaluate than technical skills such as financial literacy.

Moreover, organizations’ L&D professionals often have little in the way of guidance when selecting professional instructors. How do we evaluate our instructors? Through the “look and feel” of a slick website? Personal charisma? –per an MIT report. The process has been compared to online dating, with L&D professionals “swiping left” or “swiping right” on potential L&D providers. But while you may know on the first date whether someone will be a good fit for you, it often takes time to understand whether an instructor’s approach, knowledge, and skills are a good fit with your leaders and organization.

There is a better way! This article will examine ways to design and execute a leadership development training program that delivers lasting, measurable results.

The “three legs” model for leadership development training

An excellent starting point is a model published in the MIT Sloan Management Review. The authors argue that successful programs need three core elements: vision, method, and impact.

Vision. A program’s vision defines the skills to be developed. For example, the program may aim to develop a leadership philosophy, or to promote emotional regulation, or to improve team dynamics. The vision statement should be able to explain why the program goals are important to the organization and offer supporting facts.

Method. The method consists of both the materials and teaching methods participants will encounter. For example, the program description might state that students will review case studies and participate in role playing exercises to improve team dynamics. The methods and materials should be chosen to complement program goals.

Impact. What success looks like for the program must be clearly defined up front. The impact of the program can then be evaluated based on desired results. According to MIT, “A program worth choosing can articulate how the participants will change.” The program should be able to describe the expected results and how those results will be evaluated.

Obstacles to success in leadership development training

The biggest obstacle to measurable L&D gains is that, in most cases, participants don’t apply their new skills in the workplace. Let’s look at some of the challenges before considering solutions.

The Motivation Gap: The “Motivation Gap” is the disconnect between organizational and individual goals, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. While organizations tend to focus on long-term needs, participants usually want short-term benefits. The misalignment affects both program planning and participant enthusiasm.

The Skills Gap: The “Skills Gap” is a misalignment between the skills being offered and the skills organizations need for success. L&D providers have no problem teaching technical skills. But teaching the “people skills” that today’s leaders need is more challenging.

The Transfer Gap: The “Transfer Gap” is the failure to apply what’s learned in the classroom to the workplace. Few executives “take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to their jobs,” according to the authors. To bridge the gap, the materials should be useful immediately and the teaching methods should reflect workplace conditions.

How to bridge the three gaps

To achieve the goals of changing participants’ behaviors, with practice, coaching, and habit-building Forbes suggested these approaches:

The “three to one” learning model. The “three-to-one” model states that for every learning experience, there should be three on-the-job practice exercises. The same three-to-one ratio applies to L&D budgeting and time management: if one dollar is spent on learning, three dollars should be spent on practice. The goal is to build new behaviors, not simply to cultivate new knowledge.

The coaching model. “No one bridges the gap between knowledge and action better than an executive coach”, according to the authors. Coaches have a repertoire of proven exercises to build healthy new behaviors and habits. If an executive coach doesn’t fit every budget, online coaching may be an option. Organizations’ L&D professionals can also help by providing role playing exercises, feedback, and action plans.

Bringing L&D to work. Techniques may include “micro-learning” – short learning sessions of two to five minutes – designed to minimize disruption. Providing “nudges,” or reminders, to view content and apply lessons during the work day can be useful, too. Bringing L&D into the flow of work can help bridge both the Motivation Gap and the Transfer Gap through first-hand exposure to the benefits of training.

Leadership development training doesn’t have to be a voyage into dark, uncharted waters. There are solutions! A successful program starts with a clear, specific assessment of goals, methods, and expected outcomes. Making the leap to measurable, lasting results boils down to helping participants practice their skills and build new habits.

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Rachel Burr is an executive and leadership coach with over 20 years of experience working with CEOs and the C-suite across all industries, in organizations of from 200 to 10,000 employees. Rachel holds dual master’s degrees in Organization Development and Clinical Psychology, and numerous certifications in the field of executive coaching. Rachel is a “people expert” who works with clients to unleash their leadership potential. If you would like to learn more about leadership development training, please contact us.

To prepare your organization for the future, begin by finding your purpose and values. Then put your vision into practice by developing a purpose-driven culture. These are the building blocks that will connect the dots towards a future proof organization for the long term, beyond technological trends.

There is no way to “future proof” our organizations any more than we can “future proof” our lives. It can’t be done. “Future proof” sounds like we need to create an impenetrable force field, and then change will bounce right off. That’s not how it works, and if we think it does, we won’t be ready when change hits us. What we CAN do is to be clear about who we are and what’s important to us, and then build on that solid foundation. Then, when change happens, we’re ready, and even if it knocks us off balance, it won’t knock us down. And when it does knock us down, we’ll learn, get back up, and grow stronger. So, rather than delude ourselves about being “future proof,” let’s look at making ourselves “future-ready.”

The future isn’t coming, it’s happening now. Every moment is different. Every day. Every year. The question is, How do we prepare ourselves to meet those challenges head-on? It may be tempting to plunge into the latest trends in technology, management, or business development. There is always something new, and some of it is truly revolutionary. However, when we’re chasing the “next best thing,” how do we know it’s a thing that’s right for us? A better way to future-ready your organization is to start at your core and make meaningful decisions about what best serves your unique purpose and the culture that puts that purpose into practice.

Answering the question, “Why are we here?” is a good place to start. What is our purpose that will help us define a compelling vision? What are the values and motivations that make our organization unique? Those qualities are powerful tools to engage employees, inspire customers and stakeholders, and prepare us to be future-ready.

Find your purpose to unlock potential

Purpose “embodies everything the organization stands for from a historical, emotional, social, and practical point of view.” Finding purpose has the power to unlock “greater focus, more engaged employees, more loyal customers, and better financial performance,” according to a study published in the MIT Sloan Management Review.

“Why are we here?” leads to, “What do we stand for?” and “What makes us different?” These seem like straightforward questions on the surface, but to really answer them, we need to dig deep into our core. When answers come from generic words tossed around a conference room, a company will never be able to communicate what makes them truly unique. All companies want to be “nimble,” “customer-focused,” “collaborative,” etc. Duh! Dig deeper. What does “nimble” look like in your organization? What does it mean? Why is it important? For example, “We are [what nimble looks like in our organization], so that [how that benefits our customers, employees, the world, etc.]. A future-ready organization will be able to clearly state what it stands for and why it exists.

Do companies need to make money? Of course! But the P&L statement is not a compelling vision, and net revenue is not a lever we pull. Success metrics are the results of creating a compelling vision, aligning that with strategy, and executing on our goals. AND all of that is guided by a purpose and through a culture that either supports results or hinders them. So, do you want a compelling vision? You bet your sweet $$ you do.

To create a compelling vision, we need to inspire people. We need to inspire our employees (people), our customers (also people), and our shareholders (yup, more people). What is a compelling vision? A compelling vision paints the picture of who we are (purpose and meaning), where we’re going (future destination), why that’s important (values), the impact we’ll have (results), and what we (people) will do to get there. When we create that level of clarity from our core, our organization is not just “ready” for the future, we create it.

Future-ready your organization with a purpose-driven culture

When an organization puts its values into action, a purpose-driven culture is the result. While many organizations believe they act in accordance with their values and purpose, objective data shows a gap between the ideal and reality. For example:

Only 40% of employees feel strongly that their organization’s purpose makes their job important;
Just 39% of employees agree that actions are aligned with the organization’s values and direction; and,
A slim 20% of employees feel strongly connected to their organization’s culture.

When our organization’s actions and values are not aligned, people (employees, customers, shareholders) see it, feel it, smell it, taste it. This disconnect not only undermines a culture, it defines the culture, through which we drive our results. We may say we have values X, Y, and Z, but behaviors express our values far more than words. From our daily tasks to large scale change and everything in between. Our behaviors not only identify “how we do things” but “who we are,” and if our behaviors do not support who we want to be, we need to change those behaviors to change our culture.

Communicate vision. Aligning purpose and culture begins at the top. Leaders must define a purpose that will inspire employees, customers, and stakeholders. The vision should be the result of asking hard questions about what the organization values and what it stands for.

Set the tone. Leaders are advocates for the organization’s culture. They need to communicate the organization’s purpose and values to inspire others, and they must define behaviors that will make the vision a reality.

Prepare the people. The first step to future-ready an organization is to help people continually update their skills (e.g., upskilling and reskilling) to be not only “relevant” but ready for change. Upskilling refers to people keeping their skills up to date, while reskilling refers to moving people into positions that meet growth needs, both for the person and the organization. Developing future-ready skills goes beyond tangible technical skills to also building “critical intangible” people skills we need to successfully navigate change together.

Connect performance with purpose. We connect performance with purpose by showing people how their day-to-day work aligns with organizational purpose. Leaders (also people) must not only talk about these connections, but model the attitudes and behaviors they promote to fulfill the organization’s vision.

Empower people. A future-ready organization must provide employees with guidelines and context for making decisions in line with the values and purpose. Once in place, give people latitude to develop solutions. Empowering decision-making connects people and their work to the guiding purpose to achieve the best results.

In summary, when we identify our company’s unique purpose and clarify our values, we create a strong foundation on which to build a future-ready organization. From this foundation, we then create a compelling vision that aligns our purpose and values, and empowers the actions we all need to take to be ready for the changes to come and create the future we want to live.