Leadership development: Key factor in organizational success

The success of an organization lies in the strength of its leaders. With that, organizations need to make continuous efforts to develop leaders who will pave the way for that success.

Leadership development is a common process in succession planning, which aims to produce high-caliber leaders who will take over senior positions when they become vacant. According to Baldwin and Ford’s Transfer of Training Model, the leadership training’s success is heavily influenced by the quality of the program, level of support and acceptance from superiors, and the characteristics or learning style of the person being developed.

What is the importance of leadership development?
Continued efforts to develop leaders yield the following benefits:

Employee satisfaction
Effective leadership has been rated as the second most influential factor in what makes a professional environment appealing. Developing positive relationships between employees and their superiors can improve attitudes and productivity. Permitting opportunities for rewards and identifying a leadership style that suits the group or environment can not only improve employee relations but also show a willingness to learn and grow for the company’s sake.

Employee engagement
With a strong, growth-minded leader, employees will feel motivated to perform better and achieve goals. Instead of having managers or other superiors run an authoritarian regime, ensuring that they have the necessary skills for effective leadership throughout their career can improve engagement and the completion of objectives both on an individual and company-wide level.

Talent scouting
Instead of looking to external applicants, leadership development efforts enable you to identify existing employees who have the potential to become great leaders if given the opportunity. Fostering the ability to identify strong candidates for leadership positions and other growth opportunities is also an essential skill for current leaders. Encouraging internal growth and emphasizing the significance of strong leadership practices in your employees can improve company loyalty and overall efficiency and functionality.

Balance seeking
Successful business leaders must be able to adjust their methods continuously to manage both employees and company procedures. Both are priorities, so providing continual leadership training opportunities allows individuals to improve their methods and add to their repertoire of leadership, organizational, and efficiency skills.

Strong, effective leadership is integral to both individual and company-wide success. Providing leadership training opportunities can improve morale, loyalty, and profit. Integrating effective leadership skills and education into your current system allows for growth and lasting success, according to Thrive Global.

What should be included in a leadership development program?
Most organizations have leadership programs, but only 7% describe their programs as “best in class,” according to Harvard Business Publishing research. It means that many current programs may be failing both the leaders who participate in them and their organizations.

Creating a world-class leadership development program begins with equipping leaders with the specific skills, tools, and behaviors that they will need to lead others confidently and drive their team or organization’s performance. The skills that a comprehensive leadership development program should include are as follows:

Accountability
The most successful leaders know that their success lies in their team’s performance more than theirs. Leaders are no longer individual contributors, as they are held accountable for others’ actions and results and must take accountability for team outcomes – both good and bad. By training leaders on this distinction, organizations can ensure that they will be able to define accountabilities and rigorously hold direct reports to those commitments so that everyone can succeed and produce the results they need.

Coaching
Coaching is one of the best methods that leaders can use to unleash the full potential of their direct reports. Coachable moments happen daily, and a leader with strong coaching skills can seize these moments and turn them into valuable learning experiences. Gallup research found that 30% of employees strongly agree that there’s someone at work who encourages their development. This skill can go a long way in positively influencing employee engagement and productivity.

Nowadays, yearly reviews are not enough. Employees want feedback, motivation, and guidance in real-time, and leaders must be able to provide those things effectively.

Change management
Changes in the marketplace, employee turnover, company growth, and many other factors contribute to ongoing changes in an organization. Regardless of what changes occur, leaders must be prepared to lead them through those changes, which requires training leaders to manage change before it even happens. Change management training should be part of any leadership development program to ensure that leaders can use the power of vision, provide strong leadership during any season, and maximize the transitional times to improve performance.

Communication
Leaders can’t learn communication skills by just reading, watching a video, or listening to a presentation about it. In a leadership role, communication happens at all times of the day through large presentations, one-on-one conversations, phone calls, text messages, videoconferencing, and emails. While it’s not a new skill, communication needs to be optimized to be fully relevant and useful to leaders.

Influence and negotiation
Effective leaders don’t command with authority; they inspire, persuade, and encourage others to make their vision a reality. By learning how to be strong influencers and fair negotiators, leaders will return to their roles knowing that it’s not about who has the most power but about who has the greatest influence on employees to achieve results. Instead of insisting that employees do something out of their authority or hierarchy, leaders will use this subtle quality to build relationships, align priorities, and find a win-win scenario that ultimately leads to finished projects and delivered results, according to Training Industry.