In having discussions with many companies about how they are approaching leadership development, it is apparent that the most critical and yet difficult step is
creating a strategy. Too often, companies want to jump directly to the solution and design a “program” that they can send their leaders to.
The reason creating leadership development strategies is difficult (and often skipped entirely) is that it takes time. Uncovering skill gaps, creating succession plans, and building development solutions that will drive the business strategy do not happen in a single planning session. And, as we all understand, many companies do not have the patience to go through this process.
Earlier today, I spoke with the Director of Baird University at RW Baird. She shared their approach for building a complete leadership development stratgy.
RW Baird
The RW Baird organization realized that the leadership programs that they created in the 1990’s were no longer meeting expectations. They were out of date, not focused on building the right skills, and not focused on driving the current business strategy. The director of Baird University indicated that their goal was to “wipe the slate clean and begin in earnest to create a new strategy the right way.”
Over an 8-month period, the director and other associates gathered key information and data for understanding the development needs of their leaders, as well as best practices for leadership development in general. Their approach for gathering this data included the following key steps:
• Review external research to learn best practices, through case studies, industry and research studies and webcasts
• Interview approximately 10 peer groups within their industry
• Interview peer groups outside the industry and within their geographic location
• Conduct and review internal employee surveys, (i.e. engagement)
• Conduct 25 internal focus groups with associates and leaders.
After these steps were completed, the director shared their findings with their leadership steering committee. They are currently in the process of creating a project plan for implementing some of the best practices.
The bottom line is that developing a leadership strategy takes time. If companies want to create high-impact leadership development programs, they must give themselves at least the first year to uncover their needs, define expectations, research best practices, create momentum and buy-in, and craft a multi-year strategy.