| March 2022 |
WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO APPLY TRAINING TO LEADERSHIP?
What are the factors that make applying leadership so difficult?
WRITTEN BY: Laura Biggs
We are hearing the same thing from individuals who are leaders, or are aspiring to be leaders, and the businesses that employ them…..there seems to be a large number of leadership courses that are delivered to groups which provide the theories of leadership, but that don’t translate through to the particular challenges of being a leader for a certain team or company.
So why is translating theory into practice so hard in leadership? It is, of course, because of all the variables and the context in which they operate. While a framework or advice can be useful in a general sense a leader needs to be able to consider the nuances of personalities, company policies, market conditions, team, company culture and so on before applying it. It’s the context in which someone works that makes it difficult for them to put into practice what they have been taught.
Developing as a leader requires a process of education, experimentation, and transformation. A one-off course is not able to support this. Leadership development also requires a continual feedback loop working through to completion of an issue or opportunity, understanding the barriers, enabling true reflection, and resisting entrenched ways. Much also depends on the psychological safety and the mindset of the individual/s for change and failure to measure results.
“Leadership requires a continual feedback loop”
“A LEADER NEEDS TO CONSIDER THE NUANCES”
In the past, of course, a leader would attend a course and then be mentored or coached on how to apply those principles in the job by their direct manager. However, demands are so high in being able to deliver that the time for ‘mentoring’ seems to be sliding down the priority list, or being outsourced to coaches, either internal or to an external organisation, who can work with the individual to develop and apply their leadership skills.
There are a variety of emerging ‘coaching models’ from group based to one on one, online and face to face. It will be interesting to examine the effectiveness of each of these coaching models as more research becomes available.
WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO APPLY TRAINING TO LEADERSHIP?
What are the factors that make applying leadership so difficult?
WRITTEN BY: Laura Biggs
We are hearing the same thing from individuals who are leaders, or are aspiring to be leaders, and the businesses that employ them…..there seems to be a large number of leadership courses that are delivered to groups which provide the theories of leadership, but that don’t translate through to the particular challenges of being a leader for a certain team or company.
So why is translating theory into practice so hard in leadership? It is, of course, because of all the variables and the context in which they operate. While a framework or advice can be useful in a general sense a leader needs to be able to consider the nuances of personalities, company policies, market conditions, team, company culture and so on before applying it. It’s the context in which someone works that makes it difficult for them to put into practice what they have been taught.
Developing as a leader requires a process of education, experimentation, and transformation. A one-off course is not able to support this. Leadership development also requires a continual feedback loop working through to completion of an issue or opportunity, understanding the barriers, enabling true reflection, and resisting entrenched ways. Much also depends on the psychological safety and the mindset of the individual/s for change and failure to measure results.
“Leadership requires a continual feedback loop”
“A LEADER NEEDS TO CONSIDER THE NUANCES”
In the past, of course, a leader would attend a course and then be mentored or coached on how to apply those principles in the job by their direct manager. However, demands are so high in being able to deliver that the time for ‘mentoring’ seems to be sliding down the priority list, or being outsourced to coaches, either internal or to an external organisation, who can work with the individual to develop and apply their leadership skills.
There are a variety of emerging ‘coaching models’ from group based to one on one, online and face to face. It will be interesting to examine the effectiveness of each of these coaching models as more research becomes available.
