Leadership is a relationship between leaders and their colleagues.
The sustainable success of leadership training results not from ongoing contact between the coach and coachee, but rather from continuing dialogue among the individuals trying to make changes and their trusted change partners or peers. On a regular basis, these developing leaders asked for feedback on how they were progressing on their targeted behaviors.
Leaders who ask for input and then follow up to see if progress is being made are viewed as people who care, other studies reveal. Coworkers who don’t respond to feedback are considered to be uncaring.
“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask,” noted Peter Drucker in a classic statement. Colleagues believe leaders who ask for input increase their effectiveness. Conversely, those who don’t follow up are not necessarily bad leaders, but coworkers perceive no improvement.
These results confirm the historic observations of workers at the Hawthorne plant of Chicago’s Western Electric Company more than 80 years ago. Professor Elton Mayo showed that productivity tended to increase when workers perceived leadership interest and involvement in their work.
A great deal of energy is usually focused on leadership training programs themselves. But studies show real leadership development is a processthat occurs over time, continuing when reinforced in the office.
Consider this exercise analogy: No one would expect a person to get fit by simply watching films and listening to a theoretical lecture. Nor would you expect lasting results with a one-time practice session.
Leadership involves a reliance on coworkers to achieve objectives. Who better than these same coworkers to help a leader increase effectiveness?
In many ways, the executive coach functions as a personal trainer, reminding the coachee to do what he or she intellectually knows. Good trainers spend more time on execution than on theory. The same is true for leadership development.
The great challenge is not in understanding the practice of leadership; it is in practicing the understanding of leadership.
Create a Constellation of Leadership Development Systems
Training is a critical element, and other systems must be in placeto reinforce learning in real time. Ultimately, the companies that do the best job of creating leaders are founded on a culture that values and rewards leadership. Performance appraisals should be altered to tie salary increases to demonstrated leadership behavior.
Ideally, a company suppor ts lea dership development through challenging job assignments, outstanding bosses, effective mentoring, financial and promotion rewards, performance feedback and on-the-job training.