The only real training for leadership is leadership. ~Sir Antony Jay
While that is true, I however believed that a good, well-planned and well-executed Leadership Development Program is necessary in order to produce good, if not great leaders within any organization. Many people assume that if someone is successful it is because they have good leadership skills. Some people assume that if a business is successful it is because it has good leaders. Leadership isn't something that is particularly easy to pass on to other people. Sometimes a company is successful because a past leader was very skilled as a leader and the current leader simply has kept things running the same as before.
Great leadership is a rare skill.
For most people it doesn't come naturally. It is amazing how many organizations are successful even though they have only marginally competent people leading them. These people may be aptly called, “accidental leaders.” Many times this is because the structure of the organization helps make up for a leaders short comings. Sometimes it is because a particularly talented staff that makes up for the leaders deficiencies.
Any leadership development training should take into account some of the basic leadership issues, which ought to be made available to the individual concerned for developing his leadership skills.
Here are three important elements to make your leadership training program successful:
- The leadership training program must adequately deal with the most important issues on effective leadership, and not limit the understanding of the term to its restrictive sense. Any reference to conventional typecast leadership should be shunned. The training should also incorporate a comprehensive understanding of leadership virtues as applicable to individual requirements, and highlight the subtle differences between leadership and management.
- The leadership program should also take into account the attitude of people towards the qualities of a good leader. It is imperative that leadership development training should be ideally structured in relation to the advancement of the individuals concerned, instead of looking for strengths in personal qualities.
While great leadership skills can make someone successful, the inverse is not true. Being successful doesn't make you a good leader. If you are looking for leaders to learn from make sure you are looking for people who actually have good leadership skills and not just someone who is successful. You can't assume that someone is a good leader just because they have had success. Many times people try to emulate people who have had success and try to follow their leadership styles. While this might be a good thing people often end up mimicking the bad habits of individuals. - The leadership development training should also make it clear that collective requirement are of greater importance than individual necessities. Leadership development training tries to develop the quality of an individual to see a vision and look into the future, and develop his ambitions and aspirations.
One crucial virtue that such training emphasizes is that potential leaders should have the capability to see how details fit into the big picture. Such training also stresses the need to have the attitude that helps one to view things from the point of view of other individuals, and also able to comprehend in the proper manner the most suitable approach towards them.
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About the Author
Nor Franco is the Managing Director and Virtual CEO of nextManager.net. He's a former corporate executive whose passion is bringing out the full potential of HR in Businesses. This time that passion is pursued through Virtual Management. He writes and blogs about his management views and insights here. Follow him on Twitter.
