How to Find Measurable Gains from Enhanced Leadership Skills

Many organizations invest time and money developing their leaders’ skills, only to realize limited, if any, measurable gains. This can be frustrating for all involved. With so much at stake and so many competing priorities for dollars, it’s time to get smart about leadership development.

Invest, Invest, Invest!

Investing in leadership skills development in the absence of developing the self-awareness of leaders or focusing solely on competencies while ignoring the important underlying leadership characteristics that drive effective behavior is like investing in the lottery. Your chances of receiving a favorable return are limited.

Global Knowledge Canada recently surveyed over 400 leaders and managers across Canada representing all organizational levels and a wide range of industries and functional areas. We asked leaders to identify what’s required to overcome their top business challenges today and into the future. The findings suggest that both senior leaders and front-line managers require either new perspectives and new areas of expertise or a transformation in thinking and behavior.

Trying Something New

In a nutshell, when it comes to leadership, doing things the same old way doesn’t work anymore. Developing our leaders the same old way doesn’t work anymore either. Impactful leadership development requires a holistic approach; one that focuses on the leaders’ relationship with themselves, with others, and with their business. In your approach, you can develop self-assessment and/or multi-rater feedback on leadership competencies with practical and focused skills development aligned to your specific business needs using:

• Discovery
• Self-reflection
• Positivity
• Authenticity
• Accountability
• Curiosity
• Trust

The outcome is a measurable return with enhanced leadership capability that improves employee performance, engagement and accountability.

Jocelyn Bérard, M.Ps. MBA is the Vice President of International Leadership and Business Solutions (Vice-président Leadership et Solutions d’Affaires  —  Internationale) at Global Knowledge Canada. This article was originally posted on the Global Knowledge Blog.