Leadership development - A day's work ???

I so love doing interventions around leadership development. The topic itself sounds interesting & gives scope to indulge in experiential learning.. psst besides the fact that it also pays well !!

Leadership Development Programmes (LDPs) are really high energy sessions & a lot of expected out of them in terms of learning outcomes. So poor me starts prepping up for it days before .. meeting participants, owners, HR, training head to understand their expectations. Then sit with co facilitators to design the content, flow, objectives, props, gimmicks..... the works.

After so much of sweat the program has to go well, unless Mr. Murphy chooses to drop in. The question that comes to my mind is .... Can we really develop business leaders in a single day? The answer is a NO. 

Ahh well... here I am not going to preach what the corporates need to do at their end. That is a different prerogative altogether

Then what can we as trainers, facilitators do in the limited time that we get to spend with the participants...

Here are few things that I do & I am sure it has been helping as my clients always come back with more work !

• Set realistic learning outcomes. It is kind of impossible to have a business linked ROI with a one day intervention. So do not commit the world & more if you cannot deliver it.
• Study their business model. Using examples that they can relate to makes the session more relevant for them. With some clients I have spent weeks to know their business, their lingo & most importantly their psyche & it paid off.
• Do not act God. You cannot create leaders in a day. Instead of trying to teach them, try & identify their strengths. Channelise the qualities they display in the workshop which could be utilised to lead a winning team.
• Use experiences to make them realise their opportunity areas. Rather than you telling them "You lack these attributes" let them discover their weak spots.
• Use group experience rather than your expertise. During ice breaking, I ask participants to tell me their work experience, write it on the chart. Then I sum it up & ask the group who would they like to learn from... From just me or from each other? This sets the platform for participation & mutual learning.
• Display the learning outcomes as they are churned out in bold for all to see. Relate to them frequently during the session.
• Allow for ambiguity, non-agreements & questioning of status quo. 
• After every activity I ask 3 questions... 'Did you have fun?" "What were the learnings?" "How could you apply it in your domain & in life at large". This helps them in introspection & reflection.
• Have a should be a good balance of high energy & serious thoughts about the learning outcomes. Chalk out the peaks & valleys accordingly.
• Have clarity of roles amongst yourself if there are more than one facilitators. It is not all necessary that each trainer has to speak & give insights ( I have seen people fighting & scrambling to speak). More often this leads to repetitive inputs leading to boredom
• You are there as a facilitator because you possess certain qualities & they have been identified by the client. Do not display your superior knowledge when not needed (I know it is difficult). Adapt the role of a catalyst that helps in speeding up a reaction.

    A good leader they say creates followers.. a great one creates more leaders !! 

Happy Learning !!

Ganesh Dalvi CPF