APQC recently interviewed Dan McCarthy on the topic of developing leaders. Dan is the Director of Executive Development Programs at the Paul College of Business and Economics, at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). He’s the author of the award winning leadership development blog “Great Leadership” and the Great Leadership Development and Succession Planning eBook. You can find him on Twitter at @greatleadership.
APQC’s Leadership Deficit survey research found that leadership development programs today are considered by many to be ineffective. What do you think are some of the most common leadership development mistakes that organizations make? How could these be fixed so that leadership development programs will be more effective?
The “secrets” of leadership development are no longer secrets. The ones that consistently do it well year over year—the GEs, P&Gs, 3Ms, IBMs, etc… treat it as a strategic priority, are committed to it, and are willing to invest in it (time and money). Yes, innovation and execution are important to—but it all starts with top-level commitment. If you only have half-baked (or half-assed, if I can say that) commitment (lip service), you’re going to get half-baked results (and poor survey results). Once the CEO is on board, the rest is relatively easy. In fact, it’s kind of hard to screw it up. Study the research on what works and what doesn’t, learn from the best, and adapt those tried and true best practices to your organization’s unique needs and culture.
One of the top drivers of the leadership skills deficit, according to our research, is that a different style of leadership is required and that current leaders are resistant to changing how they lead. Based on your experience with executive development, what are some steps that organizations could take to provide ongoing development to current executives?
Successful executives are often, if not always hesitant to change their behaviors. After all, why should they? They often connect those same behaviors to their success (cause and effect). Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are successful in spite of some ineffective behaviors, and sometimes new challenges require a different set of skills and behaviors.
I’ve found the best way to help executives see the need to change how they lead (without changing who they are) is to use 360 assessments, feedback, and coaching. It’s like holding a mirror up to them and saying “see, this is how you’re coming across to others and the impact it’s having on them.” Actually, you don’t have to say anything—the data speaks for itself. Then it’s a matter of helping them identify new behaviors to replace the ineffective ones, and helping them practice until they start to see improved results.
You wrote a very useful blog post titled How to Be a Leader in a Crappy Culture. What would you say are the elements that make up an organizational culture that encourages great leadership?
Read more of our interview with Dan McCarthy here.
