Why Doesn’t Leadership Training Produce Leaders?

Great leadership is a key long-term success of the organization, so how is it that there seems to be a shortage of this kind? In the corridors of political power, and in the boardrooms of large and small organizations, who regularly hear the questions: “Where is the inspired leadership we crave?” “Where is our next generation of leaders coming from?” “Where is the style and inspiration they need to lead to the next level?”

If you ask, you can probably say what ‘leadership’ is. Like everyone else, they read books and seen the leadership competency frameworks. You could clearly describe how it feels to be well led and bad – who knows that when you see it. “But how many great leaders of the world today can name at the top of your head? How many great leaders in their organization now?

Why so many people, knowing what is good leadership, not to prove so? The first place to look is in the learning environment where leaders are usually developed.

What they do not teach you about leadership

1. There is an imbalance in the training of leaders. Not enough emphasis on skills essential to good leadership, to inspire others with beliefs, vision, values and attitudes and too much emphasis on the importance of systems, planning, measurement, budgets, controls and procedures – in summary, management! Have you a great leader in the management of people behind him? No, he inspires them, motivates them in contact with the larger view – that leads them.

2. As a business leader, you have probably been well trained in logic and analysis. But a key factor of leadership is the ability of the implementation of the “emotional intelligence” – the ability to know when things are “real” or are “off” when people are really inspired, or merely paying lip service. As a leader you need emotional intelligence to manage their own and others’ emotions, and you need knowledge to this task. Trying to do it through analysis and logic is almost as effective as trying to drive a vehicle through the study of a manual of how the motor.

3. People, especially in the business world, tend to avoid the emotion – that is, dealing with it, seeing where it comes from and its role in a situation. The reason for failing to deal with emotion, the very essence of leadership is that all the emotion of this material “is” amateur “! Not so: it is only “slightly” to suppress or express emotions inappropriately. When all the emotion of this material is not to study and resolve in leadership groups, which always produces long-term tensions and political battles. These cause acute stress in humans and paralyze organizational effectiveness and efficiency. At the same time, destroy the satisfaction, joy, fun, friendship, health, confidence and a good night’s sleep!

4. Leadership skills such as vision, inspiration and emotional intelligence can be trained in training courses – but you need a different type of course. In most training programs in leadership, you will see the models of leadership discussed, followed by practical exercises to analyze what is obviously good and bad leadership in the game. ” It is well known and fun, but what is taught are the elements that sustain the leadership, not the essence of leadership.

How can you learn to ‘do’ Great Leadership?

You need to be trained in leadership skills, with time, in real situations – those that you care and that there is a significant chance of success or failure – by coaches, who in turn demonstrate the capability. A life such as leadership ability can not be learned by the numbers, you can not read a book about him, a model to learn or play a game that simulates a real situation, and say you know about leadership. The greater the “distance” is the learning experience of real-world experience, the less likely it is that learning is transferred to his life. You do not learn to drive by sitting in a classroom!

Therefore, it can only be effectively demonstrate leadership skills when the situation for them is real. Get a coach who has the experience to produce leadership competence, and placed on an agenda that is guided through the experience in real time to learn leadership skills over time. Only such an approach eventually to the point that leadership is the competitive natural and instinctive as his driving ability!