Saturday, 29 September 2012

Leadership training - Are Australian Leaders Connecting the Dots?


By: Meiron Lees Innercents
The leadership mantra “For an organisation to change, I must change” is most certainly ringing true as the pressure to create the right culture becomes more of a pressing issue for Australian leaders. They want more from their people given the current economic climate and leadership training is now called upon to assist in making this happen.

It is for this reason that leadership training is more about aligning leadership behaviour to that of constructive cultures. It is uncanny when diagnostic analysis indicates the parallel between the thinking and behavioural styles of leaders and the behaviour of people led by them.

This connect further cements the responsibility of leaders to not only have more self awareness but also to emulate the culture they wan to create by role modelling that behaviour. This requires a specific focus in a leadership training process.

The first step is to identify the current culture that exists in the organisation and the preferred culture that is to be created.

The second step is a leadership behavioural analysis. This will identify the current behavioural styles adopted by the leader and highlights which are constructive and which are counter productive behaviours.

The third step is to connect the leadership behaviour to the current culture and determine the behavioural changes that are to be made.

The forth step to make is to ensure that the leadership training methodologies will produce the desired results. This will naturally depend upon the effectiveness and influence that the leadership training program will have on the particular leader.

There are many leadership training programs on offer and it is a worthwhile exercise to take time in finding the right one. Ask colleagues or connections in other organisations about who they have used and if they have any recommendations. Talk with a few suppliers about their processes and strategies.

The challenging aspect in this leadership training process is for leaders to take on the accountability and promise to walk the talk on the road to creating the preferred culture.

Many find it a daunting and pressurised task to have the awareness and mindset that their behaviour is not only being observed continuously by employees but also that it gives them tacit permission to do the same.

For this reason leaders need to be supported, encouraged and managed throughout this development process.

It is lonely at the top but the difference that one person makes to many far outweigh the challenges of the journey.
Meiron Lees is the director of InnerCents, the company is a leading corporate coaching and training company specializing in executive coaching, leadership training, , leadership management training and sales negotiation training. URL: www.innercents.com.au

 

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