For some organizations, the commitment to learning is a deeply held belief. It’s ingrained in the core values of the business. The lucky employees at these companies enjoy unwavering support for ongoing training and development. Research shows that most companies understand the benefits of leadership development. In a recent survey from Deloitte, 86 percent of business leaders reported that their “organizations’ future depended on the effectiveness of their leadership pipelines.”
But not everyone has it so good. There are companies where training is seen as an expendable perk and not a business imperative; where learning new skills is something that employees must fight for every year.
So for the people out there fighting the good fight for leadership development, we’re here to help answer the question – is leadership training important? Does it matter?
The short answer is yes. In fact, it is essential if done correctly. Setting aside the content of the training (we are assuming the content is well crafted and necessary) there are several very powerful reasons why leadership training is important. Here are a few good ones.
- It creates a culture of learning. Learning begins at the top and having a commitment to continuing education for leaders is the best way to show it. Learning doesn’t stop when you achieve a certain level or title.
- It has a powerful cascading effect. When the employees of your organization understand that your leadership team is committed to ongoing education and learning, it inspires everyone at every level to identify their own skills gaps and find the right courses to develop new skills.
- It’s a competitive advantage. The best way to attract and retain top leaders, is to have a robust leadership development and training program. Leaders want to know that they can invest in new skills, certifications, etc. It’s also a smart way to do succession planning.
- It works. The best reason of all. Leadership training and development is important because it works – if you do it the right way. Sure, there are many failed leadership development programs out there that give it a bad name. But we’ve seen it transform underperforming teams and inspire high-functioning teams to accomplish great things. But it takes patience, stamina and commitment because long-term behavioral change is hard. All the pieces must be in place – strategic clarity, alignment with goals and values, defined success criteria, detailed execution, a thorough and in-depth follow-up plan to ingrain the learning and reduce backslide. With real strategic commitment, leadership training and development is one of the most powerful paths to success for any business.
If you’d like to transform your leadership team or create individual development plans for your leaders, we’d love to help. Contact us at https://www.powersresourcecenter.com/
