A growing, forward-thinking company will have strong leadership to drive the organisation’s strategic programme forward and ensure their team have the skills and abilities to meet their challenges. Click here to read more about leadership skills…

To continue to grow and be successful it is vital that your leadership team maintains its edge through continual development. The business world is constantly evolving and the leadership team needs to evolve as well to stay on top of their game.

Time can be difficult to find for leaders to develop and train, and an attitude of “know-it-all” can mean that it is often disregarded by the senior team, yet leading by example is vital. To ensure that the leaders buy-in to training and development for themselves, it is worth investing in a bespoke development programme that takes account not only of their challenges and development needs but also of the available time and schedule that will maximise productivity.

Issues to consider when looking at training and development for your Leadership team include:

Incentive – ensure your training programme is interesting enough to incentivise participation, interest and inspiration. This may involve method of delivery, the length of sessions, location and frequency. Think about workshops, podcasts, webinars or short sessions over a six month period. Be aware of distractions if the training is held on-site, but attendance issues if the executive has to travel.

Pace and Content – leaders are used to working at a fast pace, and training sessions need to be equally as fast, and complex, to maintain engagement. Content, case studies and examples need to be industry-specific and be clear on what the benefit is to their organisation. Participants need to be confident it is time well-spent and adding value to their role.

Team Work – often leaders do not have the time to get together and support each other, in the same way that middle managers may. Allowing time for reconnecting with each other is often of value, and can improve forward work. It gives the opportunity to align views on priorities and performance which improves strategic focus. These sessions can identify future strategic aims and business development opportunities.

New Challenges – to ensure that you retain the talent at the top it is worth everyone having the opportunity to debate challenges, and maybe rejig responsibilities to keep people stretched and interested.

Engagement—The opportunity to take stock and self-reflect can improve engagement and renew interest in the organisation. Challenging skills and learning can refresh and improve energy levels and open eyes to new opportunities and ways of working.

Leading by Example – if the organisation expects the management team to attend training and development sessions, despite their workload and time pressures, then the leadership team needs to lead by example. If others see that development is part of the organisation’s culture from the top, they will be more willing to attend training and improve their skill base.

We are delighted to be supporting three shortlisted companies from this year’s EADT business awards and two of the Directors shortlisted for the IOD National Awards on 22nd July 2017.

If we can support you by creating a leadership development programme to meet your business needs then we would love the opportunity to Make A Difference to your organisation and help you achieve the results you want.

Call on 01473 360160 for a chat about how we can support you.

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