Leadership Development Leadership development - what is it? In order to consider what leadership development must consist of, it’s helpful to consider what leaders do: Leaders manage…they manage projects, people, functions, and problems. Leaders need effective management skills. Leaders relate to people…they form effective, win-win business relationships. Leaders need extraordinary interpersonal skills. Leaders create and translate vision and strategic goals…they make strategy relevant to the people who do or support the work. Leaders must have the ability to see the big picture and engage people in a vision. Leaders assess and develop people…they discern ability and fit for a particular role. Leaders must analyze accurately, give honest feedback, and make tough decisions. Leaders demonstrate and instill discipline and accountability…they discern when change is needed and when to stay the course. Leaders require that people take action and achieve results. True leaders exhibit profound personal responsibility…they behave as if all is possible and model what they speak. Leaders know the nature of true power. An effective leader is competent in several areas. Two of these are not typically addressed by leadership development or executive development programs per se; they are however, part of the development puzzle. The first of these can be thought of as “technical” skills. Considered “hard skills,” they reflect technical expertise in the field or type of work in their area of influence. The second is general business acumen that includes business economics, budgeting, and interpretation of financial data. This category also includes knowledge of the industry in which one works, outside of one’s specific technical expertise. The requirements for this part change as the leader grows in position. For example, a manager-level leader needs general knowledge of the overall company’s purpose and products, and specific knowledge of the opportunities and obstacles of the business unit he or she supports. A general manager needs a deep understanding of the company as a whole, as well as the opportunities and obstacles of each business unit. Morningstar Ventures' work addresses these three competency areas for leaders: Management Skills Interpersonal Skills Leadership Ability Management Skills Leaders manage; managers lead. Both are true, and both are characterized by different behaviors and require very different skills. The work of a front-line supervisor differs from the work of those they manage—the difference is typical management responsibilities such as coaching, training, and delegation of tasks. Time management can also be considered a management skill essential, though the need for effective time management is present at the front line as well. We find that often, employees don’t receive “soon enough” or effective enough training in management responsibilities when they are promoted into supervisory positions. We also find that curriculum does not often mark off the difference between management skill training and leadership development, thus higher level managers are subjected to repeated basic skill development in the name of leadership training. The solution? Acknowledge that leadership and management require two different groups of behaviors and mindsets. Determine the competencies and skills leaders at all levels need. Give each group targeted, practical skill development that is appropriate for them. Measure behavior change on the job. Interpersonal Skills Business success is in large part dependent on leaders’ ability to form successful relationships. The quality of those relationships is based on leaders’ skill in creating rapport, on their ability to engage in dialogue that promotes shared understanding, and their ability to communicate on appropriate logical levels for the given purpose or audience. At every level, leaders must be able to give and receive feedback in ways that are respectful and get the job done, without side effects. Effective leaders are effective communicators. In fact, communicating may be the most important work leaders do. Interpersonal skill development is essential to every component of our work with leaders. For more information, see the five core communication skills.		Leadership Ability As we consider what leadership is and how we “develop leaders”, the age-old question of whether leaders are “born or made” often arises. Yes, leaders are born. There is research that shows that as a group, people who achieve high positional levels of leadership—executive leaders—possess certain traits and personality style factors in common. These traits are not a function of habit, training or environmental conditioning. Rather, they are genetic predispositions—hard-wiring if you will. Is it easier, for example, for some leaders to form and forge visions, to refuse to see limits, to simultaneously consider multiple big picture impacts on strategic options? Yes. And, some of the most effective leadership development processes focus on the unique natural strengths of the leader and hone and amplify those strengths. At the same time, experiences can and do develop and instill leadership qualities. The answer to the “born or made” question is yes. It’s a both/and discussion—not an either/or. We choose to think of developing leadership traits as developing “ability” vs. skill, because the nature of leadership traits involve mindsets as well as behaviors, and because sometimes we are tuning and growing a natural tendency rather that teaching something new. Becoming a leader (as opposed to “learning to manage”) is not a step-by-step process. Leadership ability is a collection of competencies, mindsets, traits and qualities that can be built through natural experiences, or through classroom experiences that include real-life applications and action learning. This leadership ability can be broken into several components, reflective of the list of “what leaders do” earlier in this document. We design experiences that allow leaders to grow in every one of these areas: Create and translate vision and strategic goals. Effective leaders make strategy relevant to the environment, and communicate strategy in ways that are relevant to the people who do or support the work. They discern what people need to know and understand about the business in order to do their jobs effectively. They share clear expectations, and depending on their level in the organization, they break down overall strategy into quarter/month/week/day actions. They have an encompassing understanding of the contextual factors of the business—the economic landscape, the employee landscape, the culture—and can give reality-based direction based on these factors. Assess and develop people and teams. Successful leaders get the right people for the right roles. It’s a critical success factor. They determine the full range of competencies required for each position, and assess individual and team strengths, weaknesses and gaps relevant to those competencies. Leaders develop skills and abilities where appropriate, and move people to a place of better fit or out of the position if that’s what is called for. Leaders identify individual motivators and translate job goals and expectations in ways that satisfy individual needs. And, they assess their own strengths and weaknesses, actively engage in self-development and fill their own gaps with talent on their team. Demonstrate and instill discipline and accountability. We have a client that says leaders: “Do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time,” – despite noise from the environment. Effective leaders discern when change is needed and when to stay the course. They display equanimity under pressure, and at the same time, the appropriate sense of urgency. They hold people accountable for both business results and appropriate behavior, and share consequences and take action toward consequences when needed. They display decisiveness, and insist on action and results. Exhibit profound personal responsibility. Masterful leadership is not a function of level or position—it is a function of who the leader is, or has become. And in fact, this “personal leadership mastery” is independent of role or title; we have had the pleasure of working with many front-line employees who exhibit these leadership qualities. These leaders develop followers because of who they are, not what they know or what their title is. They display uncommon personal responsibility. They are personally accountable and easily let go of reasons for past failure in pursuit of future success. They actively seek feedback regarding the values and principles they display in action—feedback on walk vs. talk. Masterful leaders understand the nature of real power and respect the awesome responsibility it holds. They view the world from a lens of possibility because they have the knowledge and responsibility to make what’s needed possible. ^ back to top ^