In my many years of working with organizations, I’ve observed that people are often promoted to their first leadership role based on their seniority, achievements as an individual contributor, or because of their technical skills.
And here’s the thing.
What helped them succeed as an individual performer will not necessarily contribute to their success as a leader – where the challenges and responsibilities require a different set of skills. In fact, 40% of new leaders fail in their first 18 months because of poor fit, poor delivery or a poor ability to adjust to a change down the road. Often the underlying root cause is that they instinctively think that what made them successful before will make them successful in the new job. (George Brandt, Forbes Magazine)
All too often these new leaders are thrown into the role and expected to immediately fix things or rally the troops or manage change or achieve ambitious goals. As they struggle to get things done, they have little guidance and no time to figure out how to lead effectively or who they want to be as a leader.
The result is that they may lead the way they were led – and that is not necessarily a good thing.
Research shows that formal leadership development often doesn’t kick in until middle management or executive level. In fact, the bulk of leadership development dollars are spent on senior leaders. By that time, any bad habits developed over the years are ingrained.
This is unfair to the new leader and detrimental to the organization.
New leader training needs to be a key component of every organization’s learning and development plan. And it should not be just a one-day event around policies, performance reviews and disciplinary actions. It needs to be structured in a way that gives participants time to apply their learning, receive feedback, and get the ongoing support necessary (mentoring, coaching) to grow into the next line of senior leaders and executives.
Keep it Real Leadership is an innovative approach to leadership development that provides new and advancing leaders with the knowledge, behaviors and practice they need to successfully lead a team or organization. It is the product of more than 25 years of corporate leadership and executive coaching experience. It’s an online learning platform – leadership development, anywhere / anytime.
Keep it Real was developed as an alternative to traditional one-size-fits all leadership development programs that fail to recognize the uniqueness of individuals as leaders, and that lack learning stickiness.
I firmly believe that every leader is unique. Keep it Real helps leaders be the leader only they can be.
Contact me at kcolligan@PeopleThink.biz to learn more or to schedule a demo.
“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development.” – John Maxwell
Till next time, keep it real.
Karen
