Are you a leader leading other leaders?

At its most basic - leading is setting direction and guiding others to follow that direction. A critical skill for leaders is the ability to manage their own learning. If you are a highly motivated and self-directed professional, you learn by reading, listening to mentors, asking questions and being a good observer of people and your organizational culture. If you are responsible for the development of your organization’s future leaders, you have some guiding to think about.

Leadership Development in your Organization:

•     What is your impression of the areas of knowledge and skills recommended for effective leadership? Does your organization have a list of core competencies for Leaders?

•     Is training and development for leaders informal, formal, other-directed or self-directed?

•     How does your organization handle the short life span of useful knowledge that can result in training?

•     How is the passing down of acquired competencies to succeeding employees dealt with?

•     Can your firm accommodate the demands of productivity while providing for the continuity of learning?

•     Does your organization pursue activities that correspond to different learning styles and needs or is it ‘one size fits all?”

•     Does your organization have a formal mentoring program (or does it allow for Leaders to obtain professional support in the way of coaches, consultants or counselors?

Without a well thought out and developed plan for leaders, your employee’s growth will be haphazard at best and a waste of time at its worst. If you want your future leaders to learn how to set direction, influence others, provide guidance and feedback, develop persistence, initiative and risk – ask them if they see these leadership characteristics in you.

Joni Daniels is Principal of Daniels & Associates, a management training and development consulting practice that specializes in developing human resources in the areas of leadership and management training, interpersonal effectiveness and efficiency, skill- building, and organizational development interventions. With over 20 years of experience, she is a sought after resource for Fortune 500 clients, professional organizations, higher education, media outlets and business publications. Joni can be reached at http://jonidaniels.com