How I’ve Learned to Develop Leaders
Every once in a while I’ll get a question from a co-worker, or student about how to break into the leadership development field. The reality is, it’s not really an entry level profession, and there’s no one right way to get there.
The leadership development profession includes trainers, coaches, HR generalists, managers, authors, speakers, preachers, and every combination of these. They have degrees in management, organizational development, human resource development, psychology, education, and engineering. Some have certification… some don’t.
So while I don’t have a good answer on how to break into the field, I can look back and share how I’ve learned (and continue to learn) about leadership development. I believe these could be repeatable learning experiences for someone just getting started.
In no particular order:
1. Study real leaders
From the day we play our first sport or join our first organized activity, we are surrounded by opportunities to study leadership and management. We learn from all of those good and bad examples. It’s a numbers thing – the more of them we are exposed to, the more we learn. However, the “studying” needs to be intentional – it won’t just happen by osmosis.
You have to be rampantly curious about what makes great leaders tick – their skills, values, experiences, career paths, styles, etc….
More importantly, you have to be an investigative reporter to find out how they got to where they are. You begin to see patterns on how the good ones develop, and the bad ones don’t. Those patterns can then be replicated for others to follow or avoid.
2. Learn from the real “gurus”
Fortunately, there are already a lot of people out there that have already had all this experience and studying. When you can fit what you seeing and hearing into already discovered best practice frameworks, it all starts to come together and make sense. You develop a proven framework and toolkit.
3. Learn from fellow practitioners
When you work for a big company, chances are, there will be others involved in leadership development that you can learn from. I’ve learned from my managers, peers, and employees. There’s also lot’s of opportunities to learn from others outside of your organization.
I’ve gone to a lot of great conferences and networking events, and am always looking for new opportunities to maintain an external perspective.
That’s one of the reasons I started a blog… to learn as much as I share. It’s a way to connect with others from around the world that are as passionate about this stuff as I am.
4. Don’t just buy products and services; buy capability
I lot of what I learned came from external suppliers, consultants, and coaches. I suppose this is a combination of learning from experts and other practitioners, but worth calling out separately. I’m thinking more of those that I have hired to do work or provide products for the various companies I’ve worked for. In my early days, I did this a lot, because quite frankly, I didn’t know a whole lot about anything. Each time I did, I tried to soak up as much as I could during certifications and project work. Most were very generous about transferring their capabilities.
6. Trial and error.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked at companies that have given me a lot of freedom to innovate, take risks, and screw up now and then. I love to tinker with the system, test new ideas, and add to my toolbox. I’ve always considered a 1/3 adoption rate a pretty good batting average.
Earlier in my career I fell for my share of fads and wacky ideas. Now, while I still like to think I’m open to possibilities, I’ll make sure anything new I try is based on research, tested, reference checked, and evaluated.
So while that’s what’s worked for me so far, I realize my experience is limited and there still is lot’s more to learn.
For those of you in the field, what’s worked from you? Where have you learned the most about leadership development, and what advice could you share for someone just getting started?
