Why it pays to swim with the current when developing leaders

I believe that the goal of leadership development is behaviour change.

From my experience, this goal is most likely to be realised when leaders are motivated to lead, have the confidence to lead, and have the time to do the work of leadership and invest in their development.

The challenge here is that leadership development doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it occurs within an organisational system, where norms and practices can either support and reinforce individual behaviour change or discourage and inhibit it.

This is why the most impactful leadership development occurs when an organisation’s purpose inspires people to lead, the culture empowers them to lead, and the organisational strategy prioritises leadership.

Aligning all three elements is often easier said than done and is where ‘swimming with the current’ when developing leaders can pay off.

In practical terms, you are swimming with the current when you scan the organisation for where the energy already exists for growing leaders and identify what you can do to harness it to kickstart change.

Four ways to do this are:

1. Engage senior leaders who ‘get it’

Involve senior leaders who understand the value of leadership development and can act as sponsors. Their belief in leadership development and active and visible role modelling of organisational values can create significant momentum. Design their sponsorship role intentionally and identify specific opportunities for them to exercise it. Start by asking sponsors how they would like to be involved and support leadership development within the organisation.

2. Pilot in receptive areas

Launch leadership development initiatives in parts of the organisation that already invest in their leaders or are keen to and are moving faster than the broader organisation. Successful pilot programs can influence others to make similar investments.

3. Utilise existing forums

Incorporate leadership development into existing meetings or forums that bring leaders together. Allocate time in the agenda or bake leadership development into existing agenda items, enabling leaders to hone their skills through conversation, reflection, and action planning. Use future meetings and forums to follow up and track progress.

4. Leverage relevant metrics

Focus on metrics that the organisation already tracks and values. Hypothesise the potential impact of effective leadership development on these metrics. Do you anticipate that they will go up or down? While the data story may be one of correlation, not causation, connecting leadership development to these metrics can generate interest and support for these initiatives.

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Systemic change is hard, but by going where the energy is rather than against the flow, you can positively impact both individual leadership capability and the organisational system in which leaders operate.

For your leadership development efforts to have a sustainable impact, you must consider and influence individual and organisational factors because they interact to shape and change behaviour.

Time to get swimming!