Leadership Development: A Guide For Individuals

By Murray Johannsen

This is a resource for individuals who wish to develop their leadership skills.

Much of the university material on leadership development focuses on the organization—what the human resource manager should do, the succession plan, the responsibilities of the CEO, etc.

But there's a vast number of people stuck in organizations without formal leadership development programs. When these individuals ask for leadership programs, they must overcome a long list of mind numing rationalizations such as, "There's no budget," "We don't have the time," and my favorite, "What's the ROI on leadership development?"

This knol is for those who wish to develop themselves as leaders, but lack organizational leadership development support. It's dedicated to the self-starter, the self-disciplined, the self-motivated, and the self-reliant.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the U.S.

Are Leaders Born or Made?

Elizabeth 1, Queen of England

Barriers To Leadership Development

Leadership is a complex skill—requiring as it does keen psychological insight into the mind, behaviors both rationale and irrational, beliefs, attitudes, values, emotions, human motivation, communication skills, and so on. Leadership development is surprisingly difficult. Reasons for this include organizational factors beyond our control, and individual factors which we can control. Some of these factors are listed below.

Barrier 1: Lack of Leadership Development Programs

Unless you happen to belong to one of the best corporations in the world or are a member of the military, there just is not that much organizational support for leadership development (see below). 

Even in organizations that offer seminars and courses to the employees, the leadership development methodology is often wrong—one receives training without development. Performing an exercise once in a class-room or listening to a speaker in a hotel conference room fails to address both the issue of knowledge retention and skill development.

Primary Ignorance. The most obvious form of ignorance is simply not understanding or not knowing. We don't know; but we realize we dont' know we don't know. But there are two more suble forms of ignorance.
 
Partial Ignorance. The form involves a false assumption—that one understands something throughly when one does not. It's a common form of ignorance when it comes to leadership. Just because you took a course once (of which 90% is now forgotten), read two books years ago, or attended a 3-day executive seminar does not mean you understand leadership. 

The reality is, like in most fields of study, developing leadership expertise requires years of fairly consistent study and effort. Unfortunately, one sees this form of ignorance in some MBAs -- they think know, but they don't know. And because they don't know, their careers careen to a halt when a lack of people skills prevent further advancement.  
 
Delusion. The final form of ignorance is more subtle still, what the psychologists call delusion. According to Wordnet lexical database at Princeton, it is, "An erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary."

To site one example, here is a fairly common leadership question followed by a typically wrong answer. The question goes, "What is better, to be respected or liked?" The answer commonly heard is, "To be respected." However, psychological research has demonstrated the real answer is, "Its better to be liked."

Professional and social relationships are based on trust. And we don't trust people we don't like. In fact, we don't even respect someone we don't like. 

Delusions are especially insidious when the false belief becomes part of an political or business ideology accepted as fact by millions. For example, the belief in self-regulating financial markets is one type of economic ideology that contributed to the financial crisis.

A failure to take operational control; 
Mental rigidity preventing adaptation of new ideas and threatening innovation; 
An inability to handle the stress, manifesting itself as a lack of emotional stability; and 
A failure to communicate in a way that inspires hope and trust. 

According to this 2008 study, seventy-five (75) percent of executives surveyed for the Global Leadership Forecast identified improving or leveraging leadership talent as a top business priority from among a list of 14 challenges. However, only 41% of managers surveyed were satisfied with their organizations leadership development programs, a decline of 12 percentage points in only two years. 
This suggests that in many organizations, you can expect little in the way of help to develop your leadership ability. Even for those who are on track for critical overseas assignments find that they are mostly on their own. This same report mentioned that only 29% of MNCs had processes in place for cross-border leadership.

For those looking at working globally, another 2008 study by DDI called Growing Global Executive Talent, offers a number of important insights into the types of leadership skills one should develop. Interestingly enough, the top two priorities were team motivation and cultural adaptability, while the least important were technical knowledge and making the numbers.

1. Ability to motivate a team — 34.7%
2. Works well across cultures — 33.5%
3. Developing Talent — 25.7
4. Can make tough decisions — 23.8%
5. Ability to create a strategy — 23.1%
6. Creativity or innovation — 22.8%
7. Ability to execute a strategy — 21.6%
8. Interpersonal Skills — 21.1%
9. Integrity or ethics — 16%
10. Technical Expertise — 11.2%
11. Bring in the Numbers — 10.2%

Business Week in September 2007, examined what traits or skills 95 great companies wanted to see in college graduates. This is what was listed:

 Desirable Traits or Skills     Number of Companies
        College Major                        22
        Leadership Skills                   19
        Analytical Skills                    18
        Communication Skills            23
        GPA                                     5
        Misc.                                    8

So while one's major (or technical skill) is still extremely important, a large number of the sample corporations also want new hires to have demonstrated leadership skills.

Unfortunately, many new hires lack even basic leadership and human relation skills. According to a September 2005 study by Leadership IQ, "46% of newly hired employees will fail within 18 months, while only 19% will achieve unequivocal success." Interestingly, it was not the technical skills which gave companies problems, it was basic human relations abilities, the kind associated with basic leadership skills. In this case, the top five problems were:

• Coachability (26%): In this case, the ability to accept negative feedback.
• Emotional Intelligence (23%): EQ typically includes self-awareness, self-regulation, achievement motivation, human relations and empathy.
• Motivation (17%): The drive to excel or do the job well. Sometimes known as conscientiousness.
• Temperament (15%): Here, one should posses both attitude and personality traits that match job requirements. 
• Technical Competence (11%): Functional or technical skills required to do the job.

The Legacee Skill Mastery Leadership Development Model

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the very first step.— Chinese proverb

Unless you have been blessed with having your own leadership coach or sports psychologist, the first step in individual leadership development is to understand how to build a skill. The model presented here for individual development is not the same as that used in organizational leadership development. This model stresses developing both mental and behavioral leadership skills in an easy to remember three-phase approach. 

Careful study is an important element of skill mastery

Phase 1: Learn Sound Theory

“Our greatest adversary is our own ignorance.”  

Your leadership development program is only as good as the theory behind it. In other words, before you practice, you must know and understand intellectually what has to be done. 

Good theory is relevant, practical, detailed and convertible into a behavior. It's important to understand that many commonly accepted leadership principles are very difficult to turn into actionable behavior. Take for example, "Treat people with respect." Nothing wrong with the principle, but respect is an abstract concept not easily turned into actions.

Phase 2: Skill Practice

“If you don't practice, you can fall down, but you can't ski.” 

Skills vary tremendously in terms of the amount of time and effort one must dedicate to practice. For example, learning a new language as an adult is extremely difficult; while for a three-year old its effortless. Mastering complex skills require a great deal of practice, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of hours. For example, great leaders are commonly persuasive speakers. But even those with great aptitude, blessed with a large dose of talent, need to practice many, many times to get really good. It's also good to keep in mind two more points.

Practice Requires Motivation

"Skill is nil without will.” — Judah ibn Tibbon, c. 1120-c.1190 Spanish physician and translator, A Father's Admonition to His Son

It is unrealistic to expect any teacher or coach to motivate you if you are apathetic or just plain lazy.The primary motivation for skill mastery has to come from the inside.  Still, smart individuals define positive and negative consequences for behaviors that hinder or accelerate leadership development. And will power is another key component to the motivational puzzle. Finally, great athletes talk about "psyching themselves up" by using self-talk and guided imagery to attain peak performance.

Practice Requires Feedback

"Feedback is the true breakfast of champions." —Unknown

While there are many different types of feedback, there are only two real means of receiving it: self-monitoring or getting feedback from others. Self-monitoring has some real advantages since it allows one to adjust in real time. However, few know how to monitor thoughts and behavior real time to make these type of adjustments.

Getting feedback from others can work. However, there are two major problems with this type of feedback. The first is that people self-censor—they often don't say anything if we do something wrong. Even if someone says something, individual Ego defense mechanisms often activate when experiencing negative feedback and that feedback is ignored or distorted.

What's true for sports professionals is also true for more common skills such as typing or driving. It's rather disturbing to imagine that the next time you are on the eight-lane freeway, that the person on the right and the left, the one in the front and the one in the back, are all devoting very little thought or attention to driving. Yet, we almost always manage to get to our destination safely.

Michale Phelps, 7th Race , 2008 Beijing Olympics. What's fascinating about this race is how it was won at the very end.

Typing The Alphabet (in 1.72 seconds). Ok. This is a nice one to test for whether you are a novice or an expert typist. How quickly can you type 26 letters?

The Trampoline Jump. You need to watch it to the end to get a feel for the record that was broken.

Eat Drink, Man and Woman — Opening Scene. Watch a master chef preparing food. You will see many of the characteristics of mastery: speed, precision and a sense of the aesthetic. 

THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Experience is supposed to be the great teacher. It's always rather amusing to see a resume where someone talks about having “ten, fifteen or twenty years of experience.” However, experience by itself does little to enhance understanding of what's needed for leadership development.

As anyone who has traveled overseas knows, experiencing Chinese characters doesn't mean you understand them. Just because one experiences fire, doesn't mean one can make it, experiencing water doesn't mean one can swim, listening to music doesn't mean one can be a musician, and seeing a leader in action doesn't mean one can act like one.

If you study mathematics, you become a historian;
If you study history, you become a historian;
If you study swimming, you drown.
— Anonymous

Sometimes, though, one can learn from experience as the following story following story relates:

By this time I had started playing the tenor sax. I was even asked to play first trumpet inn the school band. But I gave up music in order to go into politics. I wanted to be president of my class in seventh and eight grade--and I was.

In ninth grade I ran for president of the whole school. Jimmy Leiby, my closest friend, was a genius. He became my campaign manager, and created a real political machine. I won the election by a landslide and it went to my head. To use the vernacular of the day, I really thought I was hot shit.

But once I was elected, I lost touch with my constituency. I thought I was a cut above the other kid, and I stated acting like a snob. I hadn't learned what I know now--the ability to communicate is everything.

As a result, I lost the election in the second semester. It was a terrible blow. I had given up music to be in the student council, and now my political career had come to a halt because I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership.
From Iacocca: An Autobiography. Toronto: Bantam Books. Page 18.

To sum up, for the vast majority of people, experience teaches us little and is not that helpful as a tool for leadership development.

2. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION AND TRAINING

There is an old saying which goes, “Those who can, do. Those who can't do, manage. Those who can't mange, consult. Those who can't consult, teach.”

Having depth in the knowledge base is extremely important. While reading and taking classes is an extremely important aspect of learning, we are only typically learning knowledge. And knowledge is not always enough.

As many of us have discovered, college does wonders to improve both self-discipline and self-motivation; but does little to develop tangible job, such as leadership development or human relations.

This fundamental truth has been known for a long time, but it must be relearned by each generation. According to Peter Senge, the author of The Fifth Discipline, “The expression for learning in Chinese is made up of two symbols: One stands for studying, the other for practicing constantly. So, you cannot think of learning without practicing constantly.” According to Robbins (1989) in his book Training In Interpersonal Skills:

Today's business graduates have an abundance of technical knowledge. They can do linear programming, calculate a discounted rate of return, develop a sophisticated marketing plan, and crunch numbers on a computer spreadsheet. They're technically solid, but most lack the leadership development ability necessary to develop people. If there is an area where business schools need to improve, it's in leadership development.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: COMBINING THEORY WITH PRACTICE AND APPLICATION

Our preferred method for leadership development combines both theory with experience; concept and application; concepts with behavior. The aim is to use theory in the real world and then learn from experience by evaluating what went right and what could go better. When done properly, this is an extremely powerful learning mechanism.

One of the CEO's in Louis Arthur's book, “Tycoons” put it this way, “This is mental set that's been present for me all those years--the experience of learning early that if something went wrong, you should examine what you have done wrong before looking outside yourself. . . The lesson of being compelled to examine my own actions has been of tremendous value to me through the years.”

By combining theory, practice and application, one has the best opportunity for leadership development.

TEACHING STORY: SHARPENING THE SAW

A man was struggling to cut down enough trees to build a fence. An old farmer came by, watched for a while, then quietly said, “Saw's kind of dull, isn't it?”
“I reckon,” said the fence builder.
“Hadn't ya better sharpen it?”
“Maybe later. I can't stop now-I got all these trees to cut down.”

Moral of the Story: If you take time to sharpen your leadership development ability, the task will not be so hard. From MacKenzie (1990). The Time Trap. New York: AMACOM, pg. 11

SOME LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

The Top Companies For Leadership Development

Not all companies are into developing the leadership potential of managers. Here are twenty-five that are put time and money into this task. For detailed research also consult companies for leaders. For detailed results take a look at the 2007 leadership study.

100 Years of Research on Leadership

This short Psychology Today article summarizes the leadership literature in five areas: Are leaders born or made? At what age do leaders develop? Does leadership training work? Are their common elements leaders share? And finally, Is leadership situation specific?