Leadership training is a very important aspect that shapes the futuristic leaders in the age of technology. The human resource leaders in an organisation can develop and design an effective leadership development programme to meet the goal of the corporate. More than $14 billion has been spent on leadership development by corporations. However, the gap between expectation and reality is persistent in many cases.
In many cases, effective leadership has become a myth. To build an effective leadership base, organisations need to focus on certain aspects. Discussing them here while explaining each point.
Before designing the leadership development programme, a strong foundation is necessary. This include:
Clarity of Vision
The first element of effective leadership is defining and settling upon the kind of leadership required to lead the organisation to the desired and the right direction. The present leaders of the organisation need to clearly define the strategic goal of the organisation and the kind of leadership necessary to realise the goal.
Structuring the Leadership Competencies
The factors that lead to the success of a leader are very different. It requires the Human Resource leaders and the business leaders to structure the competency framework. The leadership if look at from the global perspective, is becoming more democratic and hence more participative. However, these are some traditional competencies still regarded to be relevant. These competencies are trust, openness in communication, collaborative mentality, adaptability of the leader to a situation, speed, creativity, and an innovative mindset. However, there are certain competencies that are comparatively newer. These are the ability to lead through an ambiguous and complex situation, efficiency to manage remotely, the ability to manage the man-machine workforce and the ability to manage fast.
Identifying the Potential and Talented Candidate
It is important to identify future leaders as soon as possible from the millennial. It is also important to empower them so that they can develop as leaders and excel. The recruitment needs to be performed by the HR of an organisation from the wider pool and provide the future leaders the opportunity to chalk out their path. The talent pools can be divided based on factors like cross-functional employees, employees who are geographically mobile, and so on.
Building a Resource Base
Change in system, processes and overall workflow is a fundamental step in supporting leadership development for the future. This requires the necessary investment in the field of infrastructure and technology.
Personalised LDP
The leadership development programme of an organisation needs to be learner-centric. The leaders of the future should have the freedom to learn based on their learning style, according to their pace of learning and individual goals. This will engage the millennial in their leadership journey.
Effectiveness
Measurement
The Human Resource Department of an organisation needs to constantly measure the desired outcomes. They have to assess the outcome based on factors like leadership behaviours and their results, the organisational culture, etc. The outcome is also to be measured based on business metrics.
Celebration of Leadership
Building leaders can also be explained as inspiring the behaviours necessary for the organisation. Rewarding people who have demonstrated the desired outcome and growth of the organisation at the same time can be a method of celebrating leadership.
A leadership development programme is no more a one- size- fits all approach. There needs to be a multi-dimensional approach to cater to different talents. Therefore a leadership development programme needs to consider a range of resources and learning mechanisms. Some important aspects, discussed here, are never to be missed.
Self-Assessment
The top talents should go through a self-introspection to find out the improvement areas so that they can work upon these issues and become more effective as leaders.
Special Assignments
The millennial loves to face the challenges. Therefore, they have the aspiration to bear the responsibility for themselves as soon as possible. They want to learn through experiences. Therefore, in a leadership development programme, special assignments need to be developed to be completed by the new leaders.
Coaching
Individual coaching and mentoring are important for professional grooming. On the other hand, coaching in a team can develop a team orientation, and formal coaching can tap into an existing knowledge base.
The Experience
The actual functional aspects of different areas of an organisation and the experiences possessed by the old leaders of an organisation are two great instruments to prepare future leaders for the strong future foundation of an organisation. HR needs to ensure to tap experience from the experienced leaders by formal and informal means.
Continuous Learning
Leadership development cannot be just an onetime programme. It is a continuous process in all fields. Therefore, employees need to always be engaged in a continuous learning process. This aspect is very important for sustainable leadership.
Mobility
The young generation is happy to work abroad to find greater opportunities and better exposure. Therefore, the leadership development process must encourage mobility. This can help the young leaders to develop new perspectives regarding markets and across the businesses; of new cultures and across the societies.
Peer Learning
Peer learning is important to make any learning process complete and truly effective. Therefore, small leadership groups are to be created to get the right impact. This can give the leaders a sustainable approach to their leadership.
Learning as a Game
The learning process is seen to be more effective when they are presented in the form of a game and the mode of fun activity. It can be used as a tool for competency development and engaging the millennial.
Simulating a Situation
The futuristic modes of learning, like virtual reality and augmented reality are becoming important to develop skills and competencies through the live experience.
HR in an organisation needs to keep in mind these aspects in developing a leadership development programme.
However, leadership development programmes with all these components may sometimes fail to achieve the goal due to the fundamental problems like lack of culture and environment. The lack of trust among the employees and the leaders can also be a potential reason for failure in building sustainable leadership. Therefore, the job of the leaders is to make the employees at every level feel that they are valued. The career and the personal aspirations of the leaders need to be valued to enable them to generate a sense of trust and the ability to lead from the front. Therefore, successful leadership development is about bringing change with the right cultural talents and moving to the direction of a people-centric outlook. HR in an organisation is responsible for organisational culture and assigned the job of cultural transformation necessary for the futuristic leadership.
