Why mainstream Leadership Training Has Expired!
It’s a given that people rarely follow advice, even when it’s good for them! We see examples everywhere – we are told by doctors to stop smoking, limit drinking, lose weight or make lifestyle changes.
However even when faced with an immediate threat, we rarely change our behaviors.
This is because we are creatures of habit who crave constant familiarity in life. These habits are coded to keep us safe, meaning we rarely get uncomfortable enough to grow.
This is the reason there are so few leaders in life because to be a great leader you must continually get yourself into uncomfortable situations where you are forced to grow mentally. We also possess strands of DNA passed on from our ancestors that do and do not serve us well. This DNA has its tentacles firmly rooted into our system and forms part of who we are today.
For example, I was recently forced to terminate one of my clients, as they were simply not prepared to do the work necessary to improve their situation.
They had a degree of pain; they knew the course that needed to be taken; they clearly understood the why and the how, but they simply couldn’t take that necessary leap.
They wanted me the coach to do the hard yards, not themselves. After six meetings I had to remove myself. My client wanted to be number one in their industry, and they were on the way up.
However, as the pressure mounted, the climb became far too great and it was a one step forward three steps back situation. I can’t do the hard yards for others. How can you solve someone’s problems when they are the problem and they don’t want to change?
The client must design his or her own path. As a coach, I simply shine a brighter light on the path to which they must walk.
The three key fundamentals to making leaders are:
I) Adversity in life
II) Continual daily / weekly laser leadership training
III) Experience on the job, with supported accountability
When I ask my clients what they think leadership is, the same answers always come back. Most will provide accurate examples of attributes a leader should and shouldn’t possess. They know what it takes to be a leader, and they readily want to change their behaviors to advance themselves. They just haven’t.
In my experience there are four key reasons why the majority of leadership programs are ineffective:
1. The training focuses on the individual, not the organization and the individual.
2. They are only made available for c-suite or middle management.
3. New individual and group leadership habits are not measured and made accountable on a daily basis.
4. Most leadership training is just theory based ‘knowledge dumping’ and not lived through and experienced, especially in a world where our minds are already overwhelmed.
Leadership theory based ‘knowledge dumping’ such as personality profiling, 360-degree assessments, 1, 2, or 3-day or monthly workshops and meditation are just a few common methods used to promote leadership and improve engagement in the workplace.
They all have their place in the training game, but to gain maximum traction, there is a new, faster and more effective method. It’s called ‘leadership living’ and all levels of the organization participate together in the workplace. It is an all-action methodology, which means team members will live, breathe and grow together as a united force. It breeds true engagement, uncovers more leaders and flows on via a waterfall effect to build a powerful and united culture.
Mainstream leadership and management training courses can be great in their delivery, and they do serve a purpose. Usually, the chosen leaders who are seen to have potential are given the opportunity to attend an external course.
While these courses can be extremely inspiring when you’re there, it’s like taking a dirty fish from a dirty pond, cleaning it with new teachings and returning it to the dirty pond. The goal of course, is for the newly cleaned fish to come back and clean the dirty pond.
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However, a few days after a clean fish returns to a dirty pond it inevitably loses momentum and becomes dirty once again – the pond is far too big and too dirty for one fish to clean on its own, or with the small group that also participated in the cleansing.
So what’s the number one key to the success of your people? Engagement!
Most forward-thinking organizations now appreciate the importance of investing in engagement strategies, implementing standard reward & recognition programs to motivate and reward good behaviors and attitudes.
Why Engagement is the New Leadership The Strategic Way to Win in Business
Small and medium-sized businesses are the life-blood of our economy, but they face specific, ever-increasing challenges. The world is in the midst of an employee engagement crisis, with serious and potentially lasting repercussions for the global economy.
Without a doubt, one of the greatest challenges SME’s currently face is the attraction and retention of talent. Intelligent, honest, hardworking staff are critical to an organization’s ongoing success, but now more than ever, good people are hard to find – and they are even harder to hold on to! To ensure employee job fulfillment, loyalty and maximum ROI, the key ingredient that is so often missing is Engagement.
In a recent Gallup poll, it was revealed that only 13% of the world’s employees are engaged at work, and most disengaged employees would change employers right now for as little as a 5% pay increase.
The Engaged Employee - Does more than is expected. Works with a passion and feels a profound connection to the organization they work for. They drive innovation and move the organization forwards, providing maximum return on salary investment
· The Disengaged Employee - Does just what's expected. Is essentially there in body only. They’re sleepwalking through their day. Marking time, but not energy or passion, into their work. They provide minimum return on salary investment
· The Actively Disengaged Employee - Does less than expected. They aren't happy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day these workers undermine the efforts of their engaged co-workers, often providing a negative return on salary investment.
Many organizations believe that strong leadership and an exclusive focus on the development of their leaders is the key to a winning culture. They are mistaken. Leadership is not the heart of your organization. The heart of your organization is its people and their contribution. Without actively engaged employees, the leadership message cannot be heard.
Trained leaders today have been overloaded with leadership knowledge and theory, but too often they are not sufficiently activated. We need to turn our attention equally to our staff, getting them actively engaged regularly through new, innovative and inclusive methods, thus creating a shared vision and buy-in.
It’s called ‘leadership living’ and all levels of the organization participate together in the workplace. It is an all-action methodology, which means all team members will live, breathe and grow together as a united force. It breeds true engagement, uncovers more leaders and builds a powerful and united culture. To ensure maximum impact and lasting change, everyone needs to be involved and everyone needs to be accountable.
Without HIGHLY engaged people, the leadership message cannot be heard
While these types of solutions certainly have their place, they can only be effective when operating as part of a broader strategy. The first step in the right direction is the creation of a winning culture. Strong culture and engagement are integral to each other’s survival. A quality culture can be defined as one united group with the same positive mindset owning and working towards the same winning vision.
Many organizations believe that strong leadership and an exclusive focus on the development of their leaders is the key to a winning culture. They are mistaken.
It is the people and their contribution that will make or break your business.
Organizations live and die by the people they employ – no matter what industry. Without actively engaged people, the leadership message cannot be heard. At the center of the most successful teams is the strategic empowerment and development of all team members, ensuring a clear pipeline to leadership and engagement.
In sports, the best teams know that success relies heavily on the contribution of everyone in the playing group. The trust and camaraderie within the team keeps them aligned and on track, and all players have the necessary skills and knowhow to be accountable, support their team, and embrace any level of pressure.
While business would benefit from adopting this sporting methodology, many attempt to do so with limited or short-lived success. Many of us understand the power of this line of attack; in theory, it’s great! It’s the adaptation and implementation that businesses struggle with. So how do we get there – and quickly? We start by putting the right system and strategies in place to ensure massive, rapid and sustainable change.
Are Your Employees WE or ME?
There are two types of people in every organization. The WE people and the ME people. If you have a critical mass of ME people you will always come second or lower. These organizations simply cannot handle pressure when it matters. WE will always WIN. The first thing you must do is ensure that your Leaders are 100% WE.
Collective Accountability
Critical for fast and sustainable success. It’s about ensuring everyone is regularly, and publicly held accountable in the right environment. All involved should commit to and regularly report on these key accountabilities which they set for themselves. This will ensure new habits are nurtured and old habits are purged.
Equality Creates Unity
Necessary to ensure team unity. The traditional hierarchical structure is not the most efficient option for businesses these days. Instead, successful companies are moving to an organizational structure that empowers, allowing employees to make more of their own decisions and avoid the rigidity of traditional models. This cultivates long-term buy-in and ownership.
Habitual Leadership Acts
Mainstream leadership training is generally knowledge-based, not action based. Habitual Leadership is ongoing and is all about actions. Leaders are not usually held accountable for the short or long term, which is why current leadership training strategies generally fail. We too often fall back into bad habits when returned to an unchanged environment. Sustained success requires consistent reflection and improvement.
The 2 Fundamentals
There are two fundamental requirements when building a thriving organization:
1) Quality systems, processors and game plans, which I call ‘the brain’ of the organization.
2) Quality leadership, engagement, and culture, which I call ‘the heart’ of the organization.
The two most important organs of the body are the brain and the heart, and we cannot survive without them functioning. They will work on small portions of blood flow, but they will be working harder than they should be, and it’s not sustainable long term. I liken this to analogy to most organizations that are just surviving. If you have an unlimited amount of blood flow, full of fresh oxygen, the brain and heart will work in unison at full capacity, and it will be better equipped if there are problems. This creates a thriving body (or organization).
Dynamic Flow
Good communication is the bloodline of any successful business, and if communication is slow, then the organization cannot flow. In larger businesses, departments often struggle to cross-pollinate relationships because individuals don’t know who their colleagues are, only what they do. No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
'Group Activation Systems'
We now understand that it can’t be left to a few leaders within a business to create team engagement. Without actively engaged employees, the leadership message will be heavily diluted, and motivation will quickly fade. The heart of your organization is its people and their contribution. We need to turn our attention to our staff, getting them actively engaged regularly through new, innovative and inclusive methods.
Company training is the least desirable way to learn.
Instead, you need an all-inclusive Group Activation System that is neurologically designed and proven to reactivate employees.
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90% of today’s business leaders think an engagement strategy has a positive effect on commercial success, yet only 25% of them have a game plan!
In today’s competitive world, your people are your edge. Old school business strategies and ‘knowledge dumping’ training programs are no longer sufficient when it comes to employee activation. The game has changed. Have you changed your game to keep up?
To learn more about how implementing a Group Activation System into your organization
can increase team engagement, productivity, and profitability and how you can receive a
Contact Us For More Information Contact
Steve Goranson, MBA at 904-739-0200
ActionCOACH & Team Engagement Specialist
In creating a more valuable business, it is always the little things that get the big results. Our Business Health Check will give you invaluable insights into the many areas of your business that if tweaked will increase the value of your business.