Leadership

Development
Strategy: A Guide
For The Modern
World Of Work
$50 billion is spent on leadership development every year. Are
you wasting your slice of that pie or spending it wisely? Shipping
people off for courses and seminars helps you spend it, but does
the time they spend there make them any better at their role…

The answer is too often no! That’s why you’re here, right?

You want to ensure your leadership budget has a real impact in

your business! Tick box training ends up ticking very few of the
right boxes in the end, but a personalised, strategic approach
could ensure you’re getting a better return on every leadership
penny.

Whether you’re a fast-growing company building your first batch

of leaders or a large business whose training needs an overhaul,
this guide will help you create an impactful leadership
development plan.

Entering the world of leadership

development
What is Leadership development? And why does it
matter?
Leader is a title, leadership is the talent you need to do that title
justice. Sadly, not everyone with the title has the talent, and not
everyone with the talent has the title.

But why does this happen? Sometimes, people are fast tracked
into their first leadership role without the right guidance and
training to do it justice. When we’re busy, it’s easy to use time
constraints as an excuse for not giving managers the skills they
need. And when our business is growing fast, it’s likely we’ll
create more new leadership roles when time is at a premium…

Leadership development is the solution to this riddle and the

problems it presents. Programs and activities that drive more
confidence, better skills and enhanced abilities among our current
and future leaders.

Typically, these are organised courses and pathways designed to

give individuals the skills and traits needed to perform leadership
roles more effectively. In many cases, it’s an exercise in
identifying those with the potential to be a future leader and
building a path to succession planning. In others, it’s improving
the capabilities of people to lead in your organisation.

Ultimately, people don’t become great leaders until they have

great leadership skills – development is the difference.

The evolution of developing leaders: The role of

training, coaching and programs
Like so many aspects of learning and development, we seem to
be breaking away from tradition at almost every leadership turn.
So, it’s important to look at the development of leadership
development and how our methods have evolved over time.

Leadership development training courses were the be-all and

end-all not so long ago! You’d go away for a few days, listen to
experts discussing theory or personal experience, and maybe do
some networking along the way. The trouble is, the content was
likely to be quite general and cater for a wide audience. It wouldn’t
be that applicable to your role, and you wouldn’t necessarily have
an opportunity to apply it for a while anyway.

That might explain how we ended up with a growing love

for leadership development coaching. Specialists would come
in and work with individuals or groups to provide guidance and
training to help them progress. Whether it’s practice exercises or
tackling real-life situations, the coach’s role is to help you reach
your goals.
However, we often come across challenges each day, throughout
the day, and we need to tackle them there and then. It’s no use
encountering a crisis and waiting a week to ask the coaching
group how you’re supposed to respond! Good leaders are
proactive and don’t let negative feelings linger…

And so we arrive at one of the most common and popular

techniques today, leadership development programs.

Developed internally, with the company goals and culture in mind,

and personalised based on the individual’s goals and current
leadership skills, these are pathways that have an impact on both
the person and business. In essence, they cater to the person,
not their title! They give budding leaders access to people and
knowledge that make them better every day, in the context of
work – hence why they’re so popular.

Now, we know you’re itching to get into how you build your
leadership development programs and plans! We will get to that,
but first, we need to look at the benefits and context behind why
they matter.

The key benefits and advantages of leadership

development
Create leaders who understand the culture

Culture is just as important as strategy when it comes to

achieving your goals. A plan of action can only successfully be
put into action if the right environment exists, which is why it’s so
vital that your leaders understand and embody your culture.

The trouble is, if you just drop a new leader into your company,
they have to lead and get a grip of the day-to-day culture all at
once. If you’re promoting someone from within, they probably
understand the culture but lack the traits and skills to do the
leading part well. Leadership development plans (especially
personalised ones) help you address imbalance, regardless of
which side it sits on.

And if your leaders do understand the company and its culture,

they’ll be far better at aligning with senior management and
devising ways to reach the overall goals and objectives.

Succession planning and business continuity

On the topic of promoting from within, leadership development

ensures that while you might miss a departing leader’s amazing
personality, you’re not pulling your hair out trying to cover their
responsibilities.

The average notice period for a manager is around three to six

months, which is a pretty good window for succession planning
and developing leaders who can step into their shoes. That
window is crucial for mining all their on-the-job experience and
knowledge, sharing that with a successor/future leader and giving
them opportunities to work together as departure day approaches.
‍

Retain top talent, attract more top talent

Promoting from within means a path to progress. Paths to

progress mean people can see a future at your company. If
there’s a future at your company, they’re less likely to leave and
hit you with hiring and loss of productivity costs.

94% of employees have said they’d stay at the company longer if

it invested in their progress, while 74% think a lack of
development opportunities is holding them back from reaching
their full potential. Leadership development pathways are a small
but important part of that overall progression culture.

But even if people have no desire to step into more senior roles,
leadership development programs can help retain them by giving
them a great leader! A Gallup study on the State of the American
Manager revealed that “50% of Americans have left a job to get
away from their manager at some point in their career.”

If you can work out what’s important to your people and give
those leading them the skills to incorporate that into their
approach, you’re far less likely to hear ‘my manager’ as the
reason for leaving.

And given that word of mouth and employer reputation are crucial
factors in whether someone applies for a role at your company,
it’ll also help you attract top talent.

‍
Navigate and respond to change effectively

Humans are hardwired to resist change! Sadly, our industries

aren’t and continue evolving at speeds faster than any human.
Effective managers manage change effectively, which is why it
can and should be a crucial part of your leadership development
strategy.

If you equip leaders to anticipate and respond to change, they’ll

not only keep employees on board, they’ll ensure your business
gets ahead while everyone around you is losing theirs.

Shape leaders who can translate plans into action

We’ve alluded to this already, but having a strong strategy on

paper is only half the battle. You can have the best ideas in the
world mapped out in a spreadsheet, but they’ll never become
great ideas if your leaders aren’t capable of bringing them to life.

Your leadership development plan can simultaneously help them

understand the business strategy while learning the skills needed
to put it into action.

Better performance through leadership maturity

If you achieve leadership maturity, you’re 11 times “more likely to

have a high number of leaders who can build talent for
competitive advantage”, according to Bersin by Deloitte’s report
on High-Impact Leadership Development.
It also stated that you’re seven times more likely “to have a high
number of leaders who can inspire people to follow them” and six
times more likely to “have a high number of leaders who can
create synergies through working in partnership (collaboration),
provide employees with a vision and direction, and drive change
and innovation.”

The full maturity model breaks down what each stage is in detail,
but it’s essentially a journey from foundational leadership
(engaging business leaders, exposing people to leadership
development programs etc.) to systemic leadership (encouraging
risk-taking, collaboration with other leaders etc.)

Drive collaboration through leadership development

Ultimately, every leader in your business is working towards a

shared purpose – or it should at least feel that way! It’s crucial
that leaders understand how to work together and appreciate the
different roles they fill in reaching those organisational goals. If
your leadership development plans enable leaders to engage with
their peers, you’ll facilitate this cross-business collaboration.

The other side of the coin is creating an environment where

everyone feels they have a say in how the team or business is
run. That’s great for a sense of trust and loyalty, but also ensuring
leaders understand their people better. Not to mention the power
it has in driving a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration
throughout the business.
‍

Better customer experiences and retention

A bi-product of almost everything we’ve mentioned in this section

is a better experience for the people using your products or
services. If employees are engaged and happy because of a
stronger organisational culture, and if leaders are driving
behaviours that make them better at their role, that filters through
to customers.

13 leadership development statistics

that explain why it’s so important
 55% of Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) named “developing
the next generation of leaders” as their biggest talent
problem. (DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021).
 72% of Chief Human Resource Officers (CHRO) believe that
“leadership aspirations of employees” will be a key area of
change over the next decade. (DDI’s Global Leadership
Forecast 2021).
 83% of enterprises believe it’s important to develop leaders
at all levels as part of the organisational culture.
(GoRemotely).
 However, only 5% of organisations have integrated
leadership development in their business. (GoRemotely).
 58% of managers said they didn’t receive any management
training. (Kevin Wayne Johnson).
 77% of organisations are currently experiencing a leadership
gap. (Kevin Wayne Johnson).
 And only 10% of CEOs believe their company’s leadership
development initiatives have a clear business impact. (Kevin
Wayne Johnson).
 Training can increase leadership performance by 28%.
(Writer’s Block Live).
 10,000 Baby Boomers reach the mandatory retirement age
of 65 every day. This puts pressure on millennials and Gen-
X workers to fill the leadership gaps left by the boomers.
(CompareCamp).
 Overall, approximately 25 percent of total training investment
went to leadership development, below the peak investment
of 30 percent in 2017, according to Training Magazine’s
2021 Leadership Development Survey.
 According to Gallup, “managers who are directly supervised
by highly engaged leadership teams are 39% more likely to
be engaged than managers who are supervised by actively
disengaged leadership teams.”
 63% Of Millennials Said Their Leadership Skills Were Not
Being Fully Developed. (Inspire).
 In a study conducted by the Journal of Applied Psychology,
leadership training had the following positive impacts on
output. Leadership behaviours were reported to have
increased by 28%, while learning and organisational
outcomes were narrowly behind with a 25% uplift.
‍
The skills and qualities of a good leader
Remember, not every leader needs to have the same skills or the
same focus on particular skills – given that any leadership
development program should be created in the context of their
role and your business.

However, certain skills and qualities are universally consistent

across every top leader, which is why they’re staples of
leadership development programs and we’re flagging those now!

Empathy
People might perceive that too much time on soft leadership skills
like empathy is unlikely to have a solid impact on business
metrics. That’s wrong! And a little unempathetic, if we’re being
honest.

A 2021 report from Catalyst on The Power of Empathy in Times of

Crisis and Beyond revealed the staggering impact of empathic
leaders. 61% of those with this kind of leader report often or
always being innovative at work compared to just 13% of those
with less empathic leaders. It’s a similar situation when it comes
to work engagement, with a 76% to 32% ratio between empathic
and non-empathic senior leaders.

Ultimately, engaged and innovative employees are more likely to

help you hit targets and evolve at speed. Hence why empathy is a
universal trait all good leaders need.
You might encounter a bit of stigma or an eye roll when you
mention soft skills, like empathy, and that’s because they were
overdone leadership development tropes for a long time! But
when you add in this context, the value becomes much clearer.

Tip:
Have discussions with employees about their life outside
of work, this will help you understand any personal
challenges or situations that might influence when and
how they work. 86% of respondents in the Catalyst report
agreed that empathic managers support work-life needs
and balances.
Unless you understand what’s happening outside of work,
you’ll struggle to provide that support.
‍

Honesty
You could say honesty is the best policy, but the truth is that
being an honest leader means admitting you don’t always know
the right policy or answer. Effective leaders are not only honest
with their employees but with themselves too, which is the driver
of trustful and fruitful relationships.

They don’t pretend to know everything, and they’re transparent

with everything they do know (or that they’re allowed to share at
least). A good leader keeps everyone in the loop and explains the
rationale behind decisions, whether they’re good, bad or ugly.
People would rather hear bad news in an honest way now than be
kept in the dark or at arm’s length only to be disappointed later.
The thing is, there’s an art to it and that’s where communication
skills come into play for managers.

People might not always agree with decisions, but they’re more
likely to understand if you communicate the motivation behind
them truthfully.

Tip:
Share personal stories about the times you’ve succeeded
or failed and the lessons you learnt as a result. This will
not only demonstrate self-awareness and fallibility to your
employees, but it’ll encourage them to engage in similar
exercises. Ultimately, this builds individual relationships, a
culture of openness and empathetic leadership skills.
‍

Critical and analytical thinking

Critical-thinking leaders can be summarised by whether they’re
able to answer two questions: Who have your past actions
influenced and how? Who might your next set of actions impact,
and why?

The steps you’ve taken in the past can be a lesson on what (or
what not) to do next. Anticipating the outcome of your plans can
help you deliver successful strategies and react quickly when
things don’t go to that plan. The trouble is that not every leader
reflects or takes the time to analyse their actions in detail.

So, how can you become a critical thinker? Start by collecting all
the relevant data and information – at least you’ll have something
to be critical of! Use that to determine potential outcomes or
routes that can be taken and ask lots of questions at this point.
Reflect on your experiences but be open with relevant
stakeholders and ensure you keep an open, curious mind.

Tip:
Give yourself a buffer for reflection. A lot of leaders fall into
the trap of trying to implement and reflect on strategies at
the same time! It’s very difficult to determine if you’re on
the right path if you’re on that hamster wheel. Dizzy
decisions are unlikely to be effectives ones…
‍

Proactivity
Recognising the small flame of a potential problem is far better
than extinguishing a full-blown fire. You’re a leader, not an
emergency service!

One of the most underrated leadership skills is identifying

potential risks and putting plans in place to make sure they
remain just that – potential risks. That also includes contingency
plans for problems that might arise and building frameworks to
cope with unexpected issues that crop up.

The trouble with being a reactive leader is that when problems do

catch alight, you spend far longer trying to put out that flame. This
means your team, tasks and everything else on the to-do list is
indefinitely tossed onto the backburner!

Tip:
Think about all the challenges your team or company has
faced in the past, what can you learn from them, and is
anything similar likely to happen again? Also, map out all
upcoming events and milestones that might have an
impact and consider how to prepare for them.
For example, if a new product launch is on the horizon,
plan out how you’ll manage that period and which
challenges might arise.
‍

Self awareness
If the number of definitions and interpretations are anything to go
by, self-awareness has to be one of the most critical leadership
skills. For some, it’s being aware of your own limitations as a
leader and working on those, for others, it’s about delegating
tasks effectively when you simply don’t have the skill set. Some
people’s idea of self-awareness is simply reflecting on when
things went well or badly and trying to work out how your actions
influence those outcomes.

Self-awareness is key to becoming an authentic leader, one who

is honest, open and relatable. It’s also another important role-
modelling technique, encouraging others to reflect on their
experiences, strengths and weaknesses. Being self-aware is a
core tenet of any winning organisational culture because every
employee needs the ability to reflect in order to grow.

Tip:
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking self-awareness means
locking yourself in a room and only emerging once you’ve
worked out all your strengths and weaknesses.
There’s plenty you can figure out by understanding how
others perceive you and their experiences of working with
you. Speak to them! You might miss a blindspot or
become too harsh on yourself if it’s based solely on self-
reflection.
‍

Strong communicator
You can have the best ideas in the world, but they’ll never come
to life if you’re not delivering them effectively! And so part of your
leadership development has to be communicating the right
information at the right moment, which is a skill in itself.
People don’t want to feel out of the loop, but they also don’t want
to be overwhelmed by information. That means you have to
become adept at tailoring messages, adding a personal touch and
understanding who needs to hear which messages.

Tip:
Listen to and think about your audience! People will give
you plenty of hints on how best to communicate with them
on a daily basis. Which terms and phrases do they use
when you speak with them? Which channels do they use
to reach out to you? When they provide feedback, what
are the key issues they’re flagging?
‍

Tech savvy and virtual leadership skills

According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021, leaders are
least effective when it comes to digital prowess. When asked
about their confidence across a number of leader traits, leading
virtually (20%) and digital acumen (29%) were rock bottom of the
list. Here’s a direct quote from the report:

“Across a broad set of leadership skills, leaders reported

having the least confidence in their digital acumen and
ability to lead virtually. In fact, 23% of leaders say they aren’t
effective at all at leading virtual teams. Our research shows
that few organisations are developing these skills in their
leaders. Fewer than 30% of leaders said they had ever
received development for these two skills.”

However, in a hybrid working world and when technology is so

crucial to connecting people, we can’t afford to see our skills
lacking in this area!

And, let’s be honest, if you aren’t keeping yourself tech savvy,

that’s going to impact your overall leadership development
capabilities – if you can’t get your head around a new platform
where great leadership advice is being shared, you’ll never learn
from it.

Tip:
Use those powers of self-awareness! Work out where
you’re lacking digital skills and begin that process of self-
development. If there are tech-savvy leaders and
departments in your company, tap into their relevant
experience and learn what you can from them.
‍

Focuses on developing others

We’ve saved the best until last because people development is
one of the most influential strings to a leader’s bow. Firstly,
employees value opportunities to develop and appreciate leaders
who take an interest in their progress. Secondly, leaders can use
it to develop skills needed to reach the company goals and
ultimately demonstrate their impact.

The challenge lies in how you do it! Development doesn’t mean

signing everyone up for the same seminar each year or just giving
them a login for an online course library.

Development is only useful (to both businesses and employees) if

it has an impact – if it’s driving the career or company in the right
direction. If you’re not measuring your skills or even the impact of
development activities, you won’t get very far.

Tip:
Book yourself in for a chat with someone in our sales
team! They’ll discuss your people and leadership
development goals and explain why HowNow can
empower you to reach them.

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Everything you need to know about

leadership development plans
When boxers prepare for huge bouts, their trainers don’t simply
leave them to it for 12 weeks! The opponent in question requires
a game plan, sparring with experienced fighters needs structure
and post-training analysis that helps you improve over time.

The trouble is, while a lot of companies take title-winning

approaches, plenty seem happy to leave their corner for long
periods. They’re heavyweights in poor planning and unlikely to
boast knockout leadership development programs!

So, how do you become a leadership contender? That’s what

we’ll discuss here, tangible steps you can take without using
some cookie-cutter templates! Development always tastes best
when it’s tailored to your company, and there’ll be plenty of time
for celebratory cookies if you get the recipe right!

What to do before you set up your leadership

development strategy
Remember that self-awareness skill we spoke about, now’s the
ideal time to work on it! In almost every facet of business, context
is king – without it, we’re unable to make our best decisions. In
honesty, we’ll probably even struggle to make average decisions
and are more likely to make counterproductive ones without it.

The plot of any good leadership development journey starts with

setting the scene. Here’s how you can do it well.

Work out where your company is headed

Where are you going? Over what time frame? And how are you
currently planning to get there? If you understand the goals and
road map of your business, it’s far easier to work out where you
need leaders and leadership skills. Remember, impact is the
ultimate success factor of any development program.

Establish the current learning and development culture

Is L&D already happening at your company? If so, how and where

does it happen? Understanding those current behaviours
prevents you from creating something counterintuitive to the
company culture and asking people to change their behaviour.

If a learning culture doesn’t exist, this is still an important

recognition to make and should prompt you to question what that
would look like and how you’ll implement it.

Understand employee statistics on turnover and rate of progression

How often do people leave and why do they do it? How often are
people progressed into leadership roles, and what impact does
this have? Given that retention and progression are intrinsically
linked, these are two questions you should be able to answer
before building out your leadership development plans.

Perhaps there’s an existing cynicism that progression rarely

happens, and you’ll have to grapple with that before people really
buy in. Maybe you’ve promoted too many people at once in the
past and seen a negative impact on performance. The answers
will be in the data, you just need to ask the right questions.

Assess current working relationships and leadership potential

It’s highly likely that some team members are already showing
their leadership talent, and it’ll be visible in how they work with
colleagues each day. Understanding how people work together
also helps you realise which management approaches are well-
received by people and the styles of leadership they respond to. If
collaborative leadership drives employee performance and
happiness, that’s another important piece of context for your
plans.

Review your current technology stack and systems

Imagine you book a flight somewhere far away for team building
and suddenly find out the majority have a fear of flying – that’s a
first-class ticket to team turbulence. The same principle applies if
you build leadership development plans around technology that
people never use or struggle to get to grips with. There’s no point
building a course out in your LMS if it turns out nobody ever logs
in or resents it every time they do.

Speak to your people!

Ultimately, leaders sink or swim based on whether they help
others float! So, it’s probably in your best interest to speak with
employees before you even start planning out any leadership
development programs. What do they think makes a great
leader? Which qualities and approaches do they feel bring out the
best in them?

This won’t just give you great insights, it gives them a voice and
platform where they feel like they’re being heard. And recognition
really is leadership 101.

Understanding and setting your leadership goals

Great plans are built around goals! Even as far back as
1979, Harvard MBA Business School revealed that the 3% of
graduates who’d established goals were earning ten times the
other 97% put together just a decade after their graduation
ceremony. Now, the validity of this 42-year old study has been
questioned at times, but it certainly points to the established
wisdom that goals play key roles in success.

But when it comes to leadership development, there are many

moving parts on the goals front – all of which are crucial to the
understanding context and driving success.

The multiple goals you need to understand

Leadership development goals live in a sweet spot between
what’s best for that person, their team and the company as a
whole, as you can see below. A good leadership development
plan weaves the three together so that everyone wins.

Defining skills and what impact means

It’s easy to get caught on the goal-setting hamster wheel or

thinking the three above are all you need to tick off, but that’s a
naive approach that limits success. Reaching certain goals is
dependent on having the skills needed to get there. For example,
how is a budding leader going to help you introduce new products
if they’re lacking in the launch and strategy departments?

Establishing those skills is just as important as setting goals, and

so is measuring proficiency in them over time. If you define what
impact looks like, you can work backwards from it, establish the
required skills and work out if you’ve got them in your team. If not,
they should form a key part of your leadership development
program.

The power of personalising goals

We’ll spare you another Venn diagram, but the two suggestions
above have something in common – they recognise that each
potential leader is different. Even two people in the same
company and department will require different approaches to
leadership development and have varying role and skill goals.

That’s why we need to resist the urge to cut corners in leadership

development goal setting! It might be tempting to reuse and
recycle, but it won’t help you have that impact in the long term.
Everyone is different, treat them like it.

Assessing the use of collective leadership development

Wait, that doesn’t sound like treating people as unique individuals!

True, people won’t have the exact same goals but they might
need to build the same skills – which is why it’s important to
establish skills as well as goals. Say four people across the
business need project management skills, there is an opportunity
to learn together and from each other. Fittingly, it’s about
recognising that overlap.

Work out who needs to be involved

Another thought should go to key stakeholders in someone’s
leadership development journey. From senior management to
junior team members, everyone will have an interest in whether
they succeed. Working out who that is and in what capacity
enables you to drive buy-in at the right moments. It’ll also help
you understand what impact looks like and who you need to show
it to.
‍

Common objections and why leadership development

pathways fail
Speaking with stakeholders also helps you identify any hesitancy
around investing in a budding leader’s development plan. It’s easy
to assume that everyone will be raring for that person to develop
but that’s not always the case – which is why it’s crucial we
understand why people might object and the key reasons
leadership pathways can fail.

Common objections

It takes too much time and money – counter this by

establishing and explaining the impact of developing that leader,
framing it largely around the influence on company goals and
productivity.

It’ll distract from short-term goals and day-to-day tasks –

counter this by explaining the timelines and time management of
your plan, while reminding them of how it will make people better
at their current role or drive them towards goals.

We already have people in these roles or with these skills –

counter this by asking them what happens when that person
leaves! Siloed knowledge is no good when it comes to succession
planning and social learning.
It’ll make our leaders too similar if they’re all undergoing
similar training – counter it by explaining how each plan will be
personalised and take their individuality into account.

There’s nothing wrong with how we currently build leaders –

counter it by stating that while this might be true, there are ways
you can become more structured and effective. Your plan/process
should do the talking on that front.

Why don’t we start/continue outsourcing leadership

development – counter it by explaining how bringing it in house
gives you more control in connecting it with company goals and
culture, empowering you to create better-fit leaders.

Why leadership development programs fail

Others sank so that we could soar, so it’s our leadership duty to

learn from their lessons! Here are some of the common pitfalls
and reasons why development programs have failed.

 They neglect the context we discussed at the start of this

section.
 This means leadership development plans become detached
from where they’ll be applied – meaning too much theory
and not enough practice.
 They fail to treat people as individuals and take blanket
approaches.
 People fail to incorporate ongoing reflection and
measurement into the process.
  It only uses certain learning methods, for example, being
wedded to external classroom training sessions, and
neglects those that might be a better fit for your business.
 They throw people in at the deep end, without structure and
with immense pressure to learn on the job, rather than
helping them build skills over time.
 The right people aren’t involved at the right moments, from
both learning and stakeholder perspectives.
 Old habits are favoured over trying new approaches that are
likely to be a better fit.
 They’re not flexible and adaptable to changes within the
organisation.

How to build your leadership

development program
There’s no blanket approach you can roll out when it comes to
leadership development plans! There are steps you can take and
best practices to follow, but they should always point you back to
creating something built around the context of your business.

And like anything, the more leadership plans you build out, the
better you get! That’s why we picked the brains of two leading
lights in the leadership development, coaching and consulting
world: T-Minus and LifeLabs Learning.

Define a clear purpose and impact

It was one of the first points Lola Chapado, T-Minus’ Leadership
Development Programme Owner, made to us, and it’s fitting
because it has to be the starting point for any leadership strategy.

Defining impact might be tricky, but it’s what stops up slipping into
the tick box, completion comfort zone. Without establishing how
we’re measuring leadership behaviour, we lack clarity around
what success looks like. Whether it’s through performance
metrics or numbers on employees happiness and retention, we
need to know what impact is, and it has to tie into who we are as
a company.

Similarly, and as we’ll get to shortly, we have to sync up with the

wider company goals too, because leadership will be a key factor
in whether we reach them.

This concept was echoed by the LifeLabs Learning team as they

explained their process to us:

“Understanding what success looks like will help guide both

the structure of your program and how you measure
program success.

“Take these two examples: if success is increased

confidence in your high-potential individual contributor
population, you might measure with confidence surveys. If
success is that the leadership team navigates a complex and
high-stakes change well, your measurement will be much
more tailored to long-term organisational impact (rather than
just participant impact).”
‍

Align with the company goals and culture

Our experts both shared this alignment sentiment but came at it
from two interesting angles! For LifeLabs Learning, it was a case
of linking leadership development with company goals:

“It might be the company’s number one priority to have your

sales leaders prepared to launch a new product to
customers next quarter. If those same sales leaders are in
the leadership program, is it helping them get there? If not,
it’s worth investigating if this is the right program (or the
right time) to launch!”

While Lola discussed the need to sync up with your company

culture, values and behaviours! She explained that “we need to
have a clear understanding of which leadership skills, traits and
behaviours make the organisation successful?”

That comes down to involving the right people! If you’re building

out a leadership development plan with a founder, as is often the
case in fast-growing startups, they can speak directly to the
behaviours and culture. If not, you need to cast your net wider,
beyond the easy catch of HR and talent teams and into the
deeper water of managers and employees at every level of the
business.

Tip:
Ask managers what’s missing right now and what they
need to perform better, remember they can act as culture
and message amplifiers! Speak to employees about what
they expect from leaders and assess the current
performance of both high-performing managers and those
who are underperforming – both will teach you valuable
lessons.
That tip above will help you build a 360-degree picture of
leadership in your company. From what’s holding people
back now to what’s expected in the future.
‍

Think about your leadership maturity

Where is your business in its leadership journey? You might be a
fast-growing startup that’s just building your first batch, or you
could be a large corporation with a clear understanding of what
leadership means in your company.

You could be working with anything from a blank canvas to a

clear framework for how leaders should behave, where you are
on that spectrum influences how you structure programs. On a
similar note, your organisational maturity will impact your
approach and should also be considered.

‍
Consider how it fits into the day-to-day running of the
business
People don’t become great leaders overnight, it’s small and
consistent steps over a longer period that drive changes in
behaviour. And those baby steps can only be taken if the
leadership development plan relates to their day-to-day role and
how the business runs in reality.

As Lola explains, “we have to immerse the plan in the reality of

the business and incorporate business conversations, rather than
just using generic examples.”

If we’re building the feedback muscle, for example, why would we

include role-playing scenarios over real opportunities for real
discussion around real work? The same applies to leading made-
up projects. Wouldn’t it be better to create structure and guidance
around an existing initiative, perhaps including safe practice
environments where people can hone their approach?

LifeLabs Learning also point to incorporating it into the daily

workflow, but from the perspective of time. We have to consider
how many minutes or hours people can realistically dedicate to a
program.

“The time spent in the program should be reasonable,

associated with outcomes, and achievable with current
workload. Prop tip: share the attendance expectations – we
see encouraged or expected to yield best results to avoid
unclear expectations or attendance problems.”
‍

Create learning around the moments of need

If you haven’t heard of the 5 Moments Of Need framework, we’ve
got the perfect podcast for you! At its heart is the idea that
learning has been built around giving
people new and more information, where it should be shaped
around where we need to apply it and solve challenges.

If we think about the point above and how leaders often need to
react quickly to changes, the Moments of Need map perfectly
onto our leadership development efforts. Training needs to help
them apply knowledge and solve real challenges, rather than just
overwhelming them with information in the wrong moments.

Communicate ‘the why’ and give people a reason to

care
We talked about impact and purpose, but it’s important to you
communicate that to others – whether that’s budding leaders or
employees! If people don’t understand why a leadership
development program is going to drive the company and its staff
towards their goals, why should they care?

LifeLabs Learning explain this step as defining whether the goal

and strategic link up is explicit.

“One thing that we’ve learned is that often what feels so

obvious to those building the program isn’t so clear to the
folks who are participating. Be sure to be diligent about
sharing the ‘why’.

“What are you hoping to accomplish with the program?

What’s the benefit for people? What’s the larger org-wide
benefit? This makes everyone informed players in the game
and creates a sense of autonomy in their growth.”

A great follow up question would be, how are you promoting your
leadership plans? A great plan is only half the battle, how you
position, market and sell it to the relevant stakeholders will
influence how much buzz and buy-in you get.

Test, fail and try again

Our final tip from Lola is that standalone initiatives just don’t work!
Especially if we consider those ideas of linking to company goals
and culture. They change over time, and so must leadership – it’s
no use building out a plan and recycling it in that form over the
next five years.

Launch it and assess how it works within the context of the

business. Perhaps you made assumptions that need tweaking
once you see it out there in the business or learn that certain
steps are missing when it comes to applying knowledge. You’ll
either see it in the results or participants will tell you, it’s a case of
having that mindset to look and listen!
Leadership Courses: 11 Tips For
Building Great Ones
Nov 1
.
5 min read

Tools at your leadership development

disposal
Let’s recap what we know about great leadership development
plans so far.

They’re personalised and built around the realities of someone’s

role or business.

They give people knowledge they can apply when they need it
most.

There’s a clear purpose and impact linked to the company goals.

And they give people a reason to care about their success.

In short, rest in peace the traditional leadership training courses

and workshops. Rather than ticking a training box, we need
learning opportunities and tools that help us tick all of the boxes
above. Here are a few tools and techniques that’ll help you do just
that.

On-the-job training and workflow learning

The moment we need to do something is not only when we’re
most motivated to learn something, it’s when it’s most relevant. It
also means we can apply what we learn there and then, rather
than reading something in theory and waiting six months to apply
it.

This only works if your leadership plan provides content in the

right formats. It’s no use simply replicating the knowledge
overload of a text book with a 40-page PDF. What we’re getting at
is microlearning. The idea of creating short-form content that
guides people through particular issues.

In a leadership sense, this might be a step-by-step process for an

employee performance review; specific guidance for specific
challenges that helps build specific skills.
‍

Social learning and knowledge sharing

If you’re creating leadership content that relates specifically to a
business challenge, and someone in the management team
already has plenty of experience overcoming it, that should be
your light bulb moment.

Your wise colleague should share their experience and

knowledge with not only that teammate but all future budding
leaders. A challenge in many businesses is breaking knowledge
out of silos, and making it available to colleagues. Preventing
them from making the same mistakes and giving guidance
needed to work efficiently.

How do we know? Because we provide the solution to fast-

growing companies developing their leaders! Our LXP’s Nugget
feature allows people to upload their pearls of wisdom and those
receiving great advice to save it for future reference, all within one
central location for knowledge and learning.
‍

Mentoring and coaching

Some people just have a few gems to share with a developing
leaders, others might do the same exact tasks in their position. In
the latter cases, it might be better to pair experienced and
inexperienced leaders together as mentors and mentees.
Why? Because emerging leaders are likely to encounter new
challenges on a regular basis, hurdles that are business specific.
Having a mentor to shadow or talk you through those situations,
to review and provide feedback, is invaluable in learning fast and
on the job.

Self-directed and on-demand learning

While learning from others is great, they’re not always there for a
tap on the shoulder. And even as you build out that shared
knowledge, it’s unlikely it’ll answer every question. So it’s
important that budding leaders can find information on-demand
and learn on their terms.

But what happens when new leaders waste more of their time
trying to find that knowledge? Research estimates the average
employee spends two hours per day searching for the information
they need to do their job. Too often, the reason is that resources
are scattered across a whole bunch of different platforms, storage
and software.

When you create one centralised place for knowledge and

resources, you remove that barrier and drive a culture of self-
directed learning! For the team at HowNow, that means
integrating with the course libraries and storage solutions we use
every day, meaning everything is at the end of a single search.
See HowNow In Action
Complete this short form and one of our friendly experts will be in
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Group learning and training

Now, we downplayed the role of training courses at the start of
this, but it’s all about using them intentionally, where they make
sense. For example, sending everyone for a leading sales team
course that’s relevant to only a few people will feel like a waste of
time.

What if you refresh your company values and that dictates a

change in leader behaviour? Maybe your full leadership squad
needs to build empathy or hone their employee wellbeing
approach, those are the instances where group training makes
sense. Moments where everyone is working towards the same
skill and has purpose for attending the training.

Doing it as a group brings that social learning element to the table

too, where they can gather round one and explain how they
approached or interpreted parts of the course. Whether that’s how
they applied what they learnt in a real scenario or discussing
concerns with people in the same boat.

Lessons from six of the best leadership

development programs
Adidas: Building a 'New Leadership Framework' based
around collaboration
Can you really expect people to buy into your leadership vision if
they’re not seeing any part of the planning process? Possibly not!
And it’s why Adidas have introduced their collaborative New
Leadership Framework.

Speaking with the Top Employers Institute, Wouter Hol, Senior

HR Director at Adidas Group Amsterdam, explained how they’re
creating “a framework and set of behaviours we can hold
ourselves accountable to” and rooting it in three core
organisational culture elements: confidence, collaboration, and
creativity.
And this speaks to the idea that leadership is a behaviour we
build and exhibit everyday, meaning we don’t always need some
formal leadership development program.

In the spirit of those values, the leadership framework wasn’t

created in a top-down fashion. Instead, every level of the
organisation was involved in the process, including colleagues
from across the globe. Leaders have then led by example and
implemented the collaborative approach in a cascading and top-
down fashion.

It goes back to a principle we’ve discussed already, but leaders

can only really be effective if they’ve understood how their people
think, feel and want to be led. Adidas’ non-hierarchical and
collaborative approach ensures that aspect is covered and offers
a great takeaway for us all.

In the same interview, Hol explained a switch to the My Best

performance review process. Rather than yearly reviews where
the leader assesses the employee, they discuss performance at
least four times each year, and it’s as much about collecting
feedback on how managers are doing.

“We drive accountability for the leader, but also people have
an opportunity to grow and understand that they’re working
in a collaborative environment, instead of a hierarchical
environment.”

‍
Amazon Pathways: Finding and building a talent
pipeline of leaders
The leaders you need tomorrow might not exist today! In fact,
your business might operate in completely different ways in just a
few years. This is why many companies hire or identify potential
leaders based on their character and potential to step into future
roles, rather than the skills or experience they currently hold.

That’s the approach Amazon has taken with their five-year

Pathways Program.

“The goal of the Pathways Program is to find the best talent we

can at the best schools across the world and develop them into
really big leaders”, explains Steve Harman, Director, CEU
Customer Fulfillment, in the opening of this video on Amazon’s
Pathways Leadership Development Program.

This is an ethos that lives throughout the company and not solely
within the Pathways program. Speaking about a separate
Catapult initiative launched in India, Anish Mukker explained that
Amazon’s goal is to “invest in professional growth of participants
with an aim to build a talent pipeline of leaders.”

Over a five-year period, the program gives people the skills to

step into General Manager or Director roles. And, if you read
between the lines, it’s clear that Amazon is looking for potential,
recognising that the skills needed change over time and that the
best leaders have a solid understanding of the business at every
level.

Terms like continuously improving, scaling with the business,

transforming, changing work environments and even pathways
itself indicate that the Amazon ethos is about evolving into the
great leader they need tomorrow, not just a short-term fix for
today.

“Pathways members will develop leadership skills and gain a

deep knowledge of the business through a series of
progressively challenging assignments across Amazon’s
growing supply chain network. Pathways leaders are
expected to be mobile and scale with the growth of the
business, lead and develop large teams, solve problems with
creative solutions, and deliver results on behalf of our
customers!”

Johnson & Johnson: It’s about who you know, not just
what you know!
It’s a bit of a lazy stereotype that tech-heads are dull introverts,
but Johnson & Johnson’s technology leadership development
plan seems to be turning that into a full-blown myth. Their
description of the program makes it clear that working alongside
others will turn you into a great leader at their company.

Throughout the two years, they’ll give you opportunities to be

mentored, learn from others on the job, join virtual and classroom
group sessions and overcome challenges in “a collaborative,
supportive environment.”

Within that, there’s a culture of responsibility and autonomy.

People are given a chance to take the initiative on projects and
have their voices heard, which is crucial to building those
relationships that make you a better leader.

Coca-Cola: Identifying your next 100 leaders

People just love ‘next 100’ lists, including Coca-Cola!
They partner with Harvard Business School in “co-creating
leadership experiences that transform leaders”, and it starts with
identifying “the next 100” future leaders who could go all the way
to C-suite.

That lucky century of potential leaders is then sent to Harvard for

12 days to learn from the best thinkers and case studies across
the world. Once that bonding and in-person learning is over, they
enter 13 months of blended virtual learning and strategy projects
that happen on the job:

“Coca-Cola executive stewardship and sponsorship give

leaders insights into the future shape of the business and
hone the company’s competitive edge.”

Sadly, they don’t go into much more detail beyond that, but it
does teach us the importance of recognising potential but without
putting all your eggs in one basket. On paper, someone might
seem a brilliant fit for a certain leadership role, and during the
development process, you realise they’re a far better match to
something completely different.

By starting with a larger talent pool, as Coca-Cola does, you’re

better placed for this flexibility in approach. You’re also not forced
to pigeonhole people into a narrow leadership path and can let
them follow their curiosity. Something that appears to be
consistent with the company’s learning and development ethos.

Dell technologies: Leveraging internal subject matter

experts and focusing on delivery
If succession planning doesn’t begin with how you’ll tap into your
existing leaders, you won’t get too far. A few years ago, Dell
revealed how they drive career growth and leader
development and explained the importance of internal experts in
that process.

Firstly, they discussed how the 70/20/10 rule might look more like
50/50 in their company (an even split between training and
learning from others on the job), but it was their views on topics
and content that was most interesting:

“After doing analysis and scoping the project, we identify

subject matter experts (SMEs) in the business to work with
us to validate the objectives of the program…Once the
objectives are defined, we research the topic as well as use
our subject matter expert(s) to validate the content.” Jackie
Wood, Consultant, Dell’s Global Leader Development team.

Another leadership development lesson comes from how Dell

structures their programs. Sumati Kaushik, another consultant on
the Dell team, explained two different pathways created by the
tech giants. Foundations of Leadership is offered to those
entering their first management role, while Jump Start helps
graduates enter their first corporate roles and prepare to become
future leaders.

Dominos: Recognising the right skills for your

company’s leaders and promoting from within
“For us at Domino’s, great leadership is about strong
communication and influencing skills, problem solving, and
inspiring teams to raise their game; so far we’ve trained more
than 18,000 people in these key skills.”

That’s the opinion of Simon Wallis, Chief Operating

Officer, Domino’s Pizza Group, who gave the impression that
these perceived leadership skills are based on what life’s like
when you’re leading at Domino’s. They recently launched
TeamSkills, which draws on their 30 years of experience in
understanding what makes a great team leader to shape the
leaders of the future.
Building learning around the pizza delivery favourites’ values and
daily life is important, as they typically move people into
management roles in under two years. Over 80% of managers
started as pizza makers or delivery drivers and some of their most
successful franchisees began in entry-level positions with few
qualifications.

Leadership development in the hybrid

working world
‘My door’s always open’ was a staple in the leadership lexicon
even as recently as a few years ago. And it was probably enough
back then. Between nine and five, employees knew that with a
few knocks, they could have a quick chat with the leader of the
pack.

The challenge today is that the pack is often distributed all over
the country, continent or planet. So it’s a lot more than just oiling
the hinges! The modern leader needs to create a virtual door, one
that people can access on their terms, with considerations for how
and where they’re working.

It’s not just a case of asking ‘how are you today?’ but where are
you, what time it is over there and what’s the current situation.
This all adds up to new skills for a modern leader.

‍
The challenges of leading global, remote and hybrid
teams (and how to tackle them)
Fair treatment and ensuring everyone’s included

If the bulk of the team is based in the headquarters and the rest
are scattered across the globe, it can be easy for your attention
and bond-forming to gravitate towards in-person charges. Modern
leaders must ensure that there’s no sense of bias based on
people’s location!

How to tackle it:

Think about your processes and whether they’re still
structured around nine to five, in-office working. From
structuring meetings where remote attendees don’t feel
like an afterthought to carving out dedicated time with
every employee, there’s a lot you can do! Process needs
to meet culture and consider how and where people work.
‍

Collaboration and cohesion across locations and time zones

It’s frustrating when cliches are true because we have to keep

going back to them, but we really do miss those watercooler chats
in the hybrid world. Whether it’s the osmosis of learning by being
around colleagues or those shoulder taps asking for help, a
rethink is needed for leaders of global teams.
Employees now spend about 50% more time engaged in
collaborative tasks, so we need to facilitate it regardless of the
challenges.

How to tackle it:

Time zones are something we can tackle first. Simply put,
think more about when and how people need access to
information, knowledge and the wisdom of their
colleagues. If there’s not an overlap, how can you create a
single place for on-demand knowledge and give people
the tools to share knowledge independently (ps, we know
how!).
In a similar way, what does that way of working mean for the
collaboration tools and technology you need? Where are people
working, and how could tech facilitate collaboration regardless of
where people are working? Those are key considerations for the
modern leader.

Bonus tip:
Stop scheduling everything on HQ time! Just because it’s
convenient for everyone in your time zone, it might be a
terrible slot for someone on the other side of the world. Try
to be flexible on when you meet so that it feels convenient
for everyone at some point or another.
‍

Ensuring opinions feel heard

Bet you thought this would start on a sour note about remote
employees feeling left out, they actually feel more heard than
those in the office. 85% of hybrid and 84% of remote
employees feel their opinions count at work, compared to 74% for
their on-site counterparts.

The two challenges can be neatly summarised as the being heard

balance, and we need to ask what do we do about the 14% to
26% who don’t feel heard?

How to tackle it:

Collect feedback consistently! If the process is different
between on-site and remote employees, it’s no surprise
that there will be a divide between how they feel. Consider
collecting feedback in survey form before following up with
a discussion, a process that’s repeatable regardless of
location.
‍

Understanding regional and cultural differences

If you’re leading employees all over the world, there are cultural
challenges and differences to navigate. Whether that’s the
relationship norms between a leader and employee, the holiday
calendar, working traditions or the typical organisational
hierarchies, you need to be aware and respectful as you engage
with employees.

How to tackle it:

Speak to people! Whether that’s the employees
themselves or through connecting with leaders in that
location – try reaching out to people on LinkedIn, and you
might be surprised how open and honest people are. If
not, head to Google or YouTube and start searching – the
only issue is that you lose that conversational element.
‍

Creating opportunities for team building and bonding

There’s no I in team, but there is an I in virtual teams, and it’s

easy to feel like that singular I when you miss out on the
camaraderie. In Buffer’s 2020 State of Remote Report, loneliness
and collaboration were named as the biggest struggle for people
working remotely. Good leaders need to create cohesion and
team spirit among people who might never meet.

How to tackle it:

At HowNow, we use Slack’s Donut function to connect
people for weekly coffee catch-ups, pairing people from all
of our offices to chat about non-work things. It’s a chance
to speak with people you might not even work with, but it’s
brilliant for connecting with your teammates. Ultimately, a
good leader understands which activities are a good
cultural fit and steers the hybrid ship in that social
direction.
‍

Handling burnout

It might be a hangover from the office mentality of ‘first in, last out’
or hours over output, but remote and hybrid employees are more
likely to report working over 50 hours each week. That’s not
healthy for employees, and it’s not a great reflection on leaders –
their challenge is to ensure people don’t feel overwhelmed,
overworked or under pressure to put in more hours at home.

How to tackle it:

“Almost half of employees are not aware of the
expectations from them in regards to availability, work
productivity standards, and working hours”, so there’s
clearly an awareness and clarity issue. Good leaders
create freedom and flexibility for their remote employees
while making it clear what’s expected of them. That’s how
you set boundaries that aren’t entirely confined to a
standard eight-hour window.
‍
Providing learning and development opportunities

It’s slightly ironic that we go from discussing burnout to a study

from coffee giants Nespresso, given how many frazzled home
workers might have been turning to their caffeine pods.

Nespresso’s research shows that 41% believe ‘working from

home means I miss out on learning and development
opportunities’, and 34% agree that ‘working from home means I
miss out on career development opportunities’.

How to tackle it:

Leaders need the tools and knowledge to build learning
pathways that aren’t dependent on in-person, in-office or
even in-the-same-country training. Why? Because 49% of
people want to learn at the point of need, which we’ll never
deliver if we’re stuck in these traditional shackles.
Instead, we need to create on-demand access to knowledge and
incorporate that into people’s daily workflows. If all your resources
live in one system, people can find them whenever they need
them. If that platform integrates with the tools they already use,
people can learn in the flow of work. And if you want to see how a
single learning platform can do that, we’ll show you how!

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touch!
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‍Creating purpose and setting the right objectives

It’s easy to get your head down at home, the trouble is often how
long you keep it there! Not just from a neckache perspective but
in the sense of tunnel vision or losing focus of the wider picture.
We all want to understand how our daily tasks influence the
overall success of the business.

Forward-thinking companies will connect the learning and

development opportunities we mentioned above to the business’
growth. We encourage our users to think in terms of the skills
needed for their company to win tomorrow and the proficiency in
their team today. If development is connected to closing that gap,
you’re giving people that purpose and motivation.

How to tackle it:

Here’s some advice from Wayne Turmel, co-author of The
Long Distance Leader:
“One of the biggest challenges for Long-Distance Leaders
is ensuring that employees understand the big picture;
how their work impacts the company’s vision and that of
their teammates. Then they should help create an
environment where people are aware of what’s happening
outside their own little bubble. What’s everyone working
on? Where do their teammates need help and what
resources can you offer the individual that will make it
worth reaching out and building good relationships
between them and the others on the team.”
‍

How can leaders grow and flourish in hybrid settings

We already covered that employees feel like they’re missing out
on development opportunities in the hybrid world, but what about
budding leaders? We often forget that they’re facing the same
challenges in terms of learning through osmosis or observing
other managers in their natural habitats.

Leaders will often tell you how their style was influenced by taking
elements from their best managers and learning not what to do
from the not so good ones. Arguably, that’s a lot harder when
contact time is reduced, and more virtual interactions are taking
place. So, the growing leader needs to adapt their approach and
find new ways of honing their skills!

Networking

Maybe it’s that all-in-it together spirit that we’ve seen over a
challenging few years, but people seem really open to
collaborating and conversing as we move into the hybrid world.
Leaders should be encouraged to take advantage of that
conversational generosity and speak with people in similar
positions, industries and even those who seem like a left-field
choice.

Knowledge sharing

So, what happens when that conversation comes to an end? All

the wisdom you soaked up is yours and yours only…

If leaders within your company aren’t catching up in the flesh, you

need to build a culture where they’re sharing their knowledge and
experiences. Speaking with an industry expert might give you a
great idea that fits your culture like a hand in a glove, so it’d be a
shame if nobody else knew about it. By the same token, another
leader in your team might have overcome the challenges you’re
facing right now, and you could never know.

If there’s not already a culture for sharing knowledge in your

company, start driving that today!

Mentoring and coaching

Maybe you don’t need a one-off brainstorm or tidbits from

colleagues here and there, perhaps you’re someone who’d
benefit from something more structured. Mentors are great
sounding boards for managing ongoing relationships, they can
talk you through tricky situations and help you progress over time.
Mentoring isn’t an activity that’s dependent on you meeting
someone face-to-face either, hence why it’s such an important
weapon in hybrid leadership development.

Self-directed development

Mentoring might work for social learners, but what about those
more introverted developers who prefer to get things straight in
their own heads before putting them into practice? That’s where
self-directed development comes into play, using resources and
courses that can be accessed independently to grow your
leadership understanding. The missing part of the puzzle is how
that’s put into practice.

Join online groups and communities

Being part of a social media or Slack community of like-minded

leaders is a great way to combine a little bit of everything we’ve
discussed so far. You can observe how others have tackled
challenges and chime in with questions of your own, seek advice
on anything you’re struggling with and take their ideas into your
approach. Those conversations might also give you inspiration for
topics to go away and get more detail on independently.

Setting structures for a hybrid working age

We’ve alluded to it already, but unless your company structure
and practices are built around the hybrid concept, it’s much
harder for employees to understand your expectations of them
and for leaders to communicate them effectively.

As Laura Nurski explains, the hybrid working hurdles are often

thought of as bricks, bytes and behaviour. Or, in simpler terms,
it’s a trio of spaces, tools and culture of remote work.

“What is missing is a fourth B, a blueprint for the allocation

and coordination of tasks across time and space. While
traditional organisational design deals with the question
‘who does what task?’ the hybrid model must additionally
ask ‘who does what task when and where?’”

Without that blueprint, leaders are essentially being asked to do it

in the dark. They lack the structure and framework to provide
clarity to their charges – meaning it’s harder to measure
outcomes, productivity, success, impact, happiness and a whole
lot more.

Nurski’s article is titled Designing A Hybrid Work Organisation,

and those five words alone highlight that it’s difficult for virtual
leaders to succeed if the business isn’t one with the hybrid
concept at its core. Asking them to lead hybrid style in an
organisation that’s shaped around nine-to-five HQ working isn’t
going to empower them to thrive.

Leadership experts to follow and fill

your feed with knowledge nuggets
Your LinkedIn profile could probably be doing a lot more for you…
if you’re following the right people! Rather than filling this list with
the same old faces, we asked the HowNow team to share some
of the best people they’re following. But that doesn’t mean you
won’t see some heavy hitters in this section!

Max Altschuler, Vice President of Sales Engagement at Outreach

Find Max on LinkedIn

Max is a great follow, especially if you’re building leaders in the

sales field or trying to become one yourself! From tactical advice
to real-life experiences, he has a knack for sharing his advice in
relatable and human ways. Here’s a great example:

Heeral Gudka, Leadership Performance Consultant and Founder

Director at Convergent

Find Heeral on LinkedIn

If you’re looking for leadership advice through the lens of diversity
and inclusion, Heeral is somebody you have to follow. She runs
plenty of events, workshops and resources around both topics
and happily shares great insights that emerge from those.

Penny Ferguson, Founder & CEO of The Living Leader

Find Penny on LinkedIn

Thousands of people all across the world have used and

benefited from Penny Ferguson’s flagship development program.
Through social media, she shares excellent videos that challenge
how we think about and approach our personal development and
leadership skills.

Rod Pearson, ACC (ICF) Coach and HR Leader at Cala Group

Find Rod on LinkedIn

If there was an award for simple bios that really sum up great
leadership, Rod Pearson would win: “It’s all about people, trust,
and relationships”. Between his fantastic quotes, practical tips and
wonderful pictures of Fife, Scotland, there are countless reasons
to follow Rod!

Robin Sharma, Leadership Missionary, Humanitarian and Bestselling

Author

Find Robin on LinkedIn

So, if you’re looking for someone who posts every day, Robin
Sharma might not be the right follow for you. BUT, if you’re not
familiar with him, it’s absolutely worth scrolling back through his
library of exceptional posts and also checking out his YouTube
channel for some amazing leadership lessons.

Trevor E Hudson, Future of Work Facilitator and Wiser Leadership

Coach

Find Trevor on LinkedIn

Another expert who is excellent at translating everyday

experiences into amazing anecdotes with tangible takeaways.
Trevor also has an excellent knack for finding and dissecting
other stories to offer his opinion, a critical thinking skill that so
many of us would love to develop.
‍

Allison Pickens, Investor, Board Director, COO, Fortune Most Powerful

Women community

Find Allison on LinkedIn

There are two great reasons to follow Allison! One, she’ll share
brilliant events or resources and bring great knowledge to your
news feed. Two, it’ll help you subscribe to her The New Normal
newsletter, designed “to support the CEOs who are helping our
world not just adapt to ‘the new normal’, but also create a better
version of it.”

Dan Murray-Serter, Co-Founder at Heights and Host of the Secret

Leaders podcast

Find Dan on LinkedIn

After investing in 50 startups, it’s no wonder Dan Murray-Serter

understands what a leader needs in fast-growing companies.
From podcast clips to insights from experts, he’ll add truly
interesting content to your news feed.

‍
The future of leadership development
and key trends you should know
As the famous party song taught us, people love to follow the
leader! So leaders have a moral responsibility to follow the trends
and keep up with the ever-evolving landscape we work in.

Luckily, we broke down the four biggest leadership trends here,

but we’ll give you a quick summary now, along with a few bonus
ones.

Learning how to connect people with purpose

Almost two-thirds of employees said COVID caused them to
reflect on their purpose in life! That’s according to a McKinsey
study that also revealed half are now reconsidering the type of
work they do. Over to you leaders!

It’s time to improve your prowess in giving people purpose and

making their role seem like it truly makes a difference. 70% of
people also stated that what they do at work defines their sense
of purpose, meaning it’s never been more crucial for work to be
meaningful.

McKinsey believe there are three areas influencing our sense of

fulfilment:

 Things we do outside of work, like volunteering, hobbies and

caring for others.
  Purpose from work, such as the progress on projects and
the energy that gives us.
 Purpose from the organisation, driven by the organisation’s
purpose and culture.

Creating career paths for people

It can be tricky to have a sense of purpose if it feels like your
career is going nowhere! We’ve all heard about the Great
Resignation, sparked and dominated by this Microsoft research
that 41% of the workforce could leave their roles.

However, that was a Microsoft red herring because while they

were predicting it might happen, voluntary turnover was already
rising like a rocket taking off for space. In
2021, Glassdoor reported that the US voluntary turnover rate
reached 25%, more than double the 12% reported in 2018.

Increased voluntary turnover + a craving for real purpose =

leaders stepping in to provide progress opportunities.

Kayshia Kruger, Director of organisation Development at ORC,

explained to us that:

“Employees want to know they have a place in their

organisation and that comes with a better understanding of
not only where employees can go in the company (career
pathing and succession planning), but how they can grow
(learning and leadership development).

“Organisations and leaders that can provide transparency

and clarity around these processes will be positioned as
competitive in their market.”

Shifting focus to the employee experience

If one more thing gets a ‘Great’ nickname, we’re going to rebrand
ourselves as the Great LXP! Willis Towers Watson coined the
term The Great EX Awakening to describe a growing
organisational focus on employee experience (EX). 92% of
organisations are prioritising EX over the next three years,
meaning leaders need to get better at recognising and improving
daily life for their charges.

Before the pandemic, only half of companies had made employee

experience a priority. Today, 81% believe it drives engagement,
while wellbeing (80%), productivity (79%) and performance
weren’t far behind in this list of EX benefits.

So, what’s the secret to EX success? According to the WTW

study, having senior leaders who set out and communicate their
strategies effectively. Clarity around the company’s objectives,
and therefore someone’s role in reaching them, is unsurprisingly
another lever leaders can pull. And it’s why communication skills
have to be part of your leadership development programs.

Cultures of adaptability and change management

“We have to let go of the need to plan from A to Z and learn to be
okay with planning from A to B.”, that’s the view of Laurie
Leinwand, a licensed professional counsellor and one that feels
very apt given the changes of recent years.

The bottom line is that in times of drastic change, it’s those who
respond fastest that come out on top! As we like to say, the
fastest learner wins. However, it’s hard for people to become the
fastest learners if your leaders aren’t reactive to change and
there’s no company culture for adaptability.

Keith Keating believes that adaptable leaders have three traits:

 Flexible ways of thinking, meaning they can tap into different

mental frameworks and strategies.
 They build multiple plans for reaching goals and aren’t
wedded to a single approach.
 Curious minds that allow them to absorb the opinions of
others and use those in their reactive responses.

Finding ways to avoid burnout

Leaders facing burnout are more likely to leave, and leaders
feeling burned out are less likely to lead effectively! DDI’s Global
Leadership Forecast 2021 revealed two interesting statistics
about managers who are feeling the heat.

 26% of burned out leaders said they plan to leave in the next
year, compared to just 6% of their calm counterparts.
 While 44% of those with burnout expect to change
companies if they’re going to advance, compared to just
24% of other leaders.

Now, we’ve not been on many ships, but we doubt frazzled

captains who always seemed stressed at the helm would have
steered their crew very well. How are we going to expect leaders
in our workplaces to drive teams effectively if they’re feeling on
the brink of burning out?

The answer? Empathy! The DDI report explained that managing

company-wide burnout is directly linked to the ability to
empathise. However, only 18% of leaders felt confident in their
ability to help team members avoid burnout.

“The number-one factor that influences burnout is leaders’

ability to demonstrate empathy—connecting with their teams
on a more human level. While leaders typically rate
themselves well on showing empathy, we saw leaders’ self-
ratings of empathy drop 15% during the pandemic.
“This drop showed that as leaders are under stress, many of
them struggle to show empathy, even though these are
moments when their team members need it most.”