|
Experts agree that enlightened leadership begets engaged employees, but as simple as that formula is, the enlightened leader is missing from many organizations. According to the Paul Harris feature on page 46, a recent DDI study found that 62 percent of employees have no aspirations to assume leadership roles within their companies.
Why is finding great leaders an elusive problem?
It’s all about perception and trust, according to the feature. “From the late Ken Lay, Enron’s disgraced chieftain, to the gaggle of CEOs and Wall Street traders rewarded for their misdeeds with bonus checks, there are ample reasons for mistrust,” Harris wrote in the article.
Consumers are expressing serious frustration with corporate America where CEOs continue to give themselves big bonuses while they lay off people. So what lessons can we learn from these crises? How are these perceptions changing the crux of leadership development?
Trust is simple to measure—just ask. An anonymous survey will reveal whether trust is being built or destroyed in your organization. Communicate the survey results to your organization and track them regularly. When you see the amount of trust backsliding, ask why.
There is no one-size-fits-all leadership development program that works for all people and all organizations. Daily, there are articles, books, and blogs written about the characteristics of a leader and how to design successful leadership programs. There are boot camps, week-long leadership retreats, and team building events, but there is very little evidence on what works and what doesn’t.
One thing is for sure: High potentials tend to have the business and technical skills needed to create successful organizational strategy, but many are lacking the interpersonal skills to motivate employees and communicate effectively.
Leadership development programs should be created around an organization’s culture and should mirror the values and goals of that culture. It is time to re-evaluate your leadership development strategy because as Alexandra Stoddard once said, “What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows.”
|