Your basic training is a success. Now you're ready to develop your leaders. But where should you start? What topics should you include? Here are the basics.
We know it's difficult enough to prove the value of basic skills and new hire training. But once that's done, we want to develop our supervisors, managers, and executives, as well. Leadership training programs can provide management with the technical and soft skills they need to manage their teams - and retain employees. Not only that, a well-planned leadership training program can help you retain your leaders. Leadership training programs also give the executive team a cross-section of the leaders that may take over management in the future. But once you've decided that it's time for leadership training, Osteo biflex what subject matter works?
It's important to remember that if you assess the current leadership team to determine which subjects they need, you'll only take care of the current group. If you want to implement a continuous leadership training program that creates a pool of qualified talent, start at a basic level and work your way up. With all of your leaders at the same footing, you can be sure that each potential leader has the same set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
One of the most basic leadership modules is team building: teach leaders how to listen, to understand and utilize group consensus, and to embrace group differences. After team building, you can center the next module on leadership and management. In this module, teach leaders the difference between management and leadership - you'd be surprised at how many leaders don't know the difference. Your module can show that operational items are management, while building the team, coaching, and ensuring successful goal accomplishment are leadership. Here's a very good exercise to go through in this module: have leaders determine their own leadership framework. Help them identify which leadership behaviors they value and how they'll use those behaviors on a daily basis.
One of the more management-oriented subjects you can address in your leadership training program is the selection and hiring of employees. Many managers do not know how to accurately assess a candidate through their interview. Also, many of them do not know how to transfer job duties into an interview that gives an accurate picture of the candidate's behavior. Your leaders should also be great coaches, so be sure to include this module in your program. Most organizations choose a coaching style or template to follow, but many do not communicate and practice the model with managers.
Another subject to consider for leadership training programs is that of managing via values. Leaders should know the organization's values, usually from its mission statement. They can then take those values, along with their own business values, and lead the team based on that value framework. Having the values framework ensures that every member of the team is working toward the same goals. During this module, have leaders identify the things that both create and destroy values. For example, positive attitudes create value, while negativity destroys value. It's a beneficial activity.
Strategic thinking is also a skill that you should touch on in your leadership training program. Many leaders get caught up in the day-to-day operation of the organization, which is normal - and expected. In a strategic thinking course, leaders can learn to assess where their organization, team, or department is, where they want it to be, and what steps they have to take to get it there.
Finally, consider operational modules for your leadership training programs. Successful programs usually include a module on quantitative thinking, or the use of the organization's statistics to get a realistic picture of where the organization is. You can also include systems management, which could be specific to applications that your leaders use. You may also want to include a module on finance and budgeting, for those leaders who may not have a financial background.
Your leadership training program will add great value to your organization. It will also help you retain both your front line employees and your managers. Once the program is in place, executive leadership will have a constant pool of qualified leaders, which keeps your organization moving forward.
Bryant Nielson - Managing Director and National Sales Trainer - assists executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for sales organizations.
Bryant's 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.
Subscribe to his monthly ezine - Lengthen Your Stride! (tm) - and learn the legendary secrets of top business achievers at: http://www.BryantNielson.com
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