Why do managers go through leadership training and not improve?

Why do managers go through leadership training and not improve?

Updated July 24 2023

On reading the 14th CIPD Learning and Talent Development Annual Survey 2012, I was delighted to see an emphasis on the need for new approaches to learning!

According to the survey, ‘nearly three-quarters of organisations see a deficit in management and leadership skills’. This means that despite years of management training and development, much of the skill base of managers remains unimproved. This survey indicates that senior managers are perceived, as much as line managers, to be lacking in management and leadership skills.

The report states that ‘Learning & talent development practitioners have a big role in using their insights on leadership and behaviour in making sure those leaders are developed properly’, and that ‘a lot of this activity is going to require a step-up in our awareness of a new and emerging evidence base from the sciences about how people think, act and behave.’

The report states that familiar models such as Myers Briggs, Kolb, and Honey and Mumford which have been used to generate insight on how people learn and develop are too familiar, and that the challenges we face now require different insights and a refreshed evidence base.

Yippee!! That’s what we at Adaptas™ have been arguing!! Yes, of course all of these theorists and measurements have their place in people development, but as the survey states ‘there is a low awareness of the emerging evidence base from neuroscience, cognitive research and areas like economics which could transform the way we think’. Yes, for most organisations and for most training providers there is a lack of awareness of all the new findings and the power of the brain. However, Adaptas™ combines approaches taken from these areas and which are monumentally important for adult learning and for organisational change!

The report states, ‘Understanding neuroscience issues such as how the brain codes, captures and cleans knowledge and memory, helps us to know much more about how to pace and develop our learning interventions.’

Agreed! The reason so many managers and leaders, who have gone through staff training are still not effective, is because the trainings they have received have not been cutting edge. They have not taken into account what we now know about the human brain! Are you ready to be one of the organisations who actually sees a change when your managers go through training? If so, get in touch with us….

 

Note: The 14th CIPD Learning and Talent Development Annual Survey 2012 was researched and developed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (www.CIPD.co.uk) with Cornerstone OnDemand

What Makes A Great Leader?

Updated July 24th 2023

I asked a friend of mine about an old boss of his the other day, and what it was that he admired about him. He said that his old boss, let’s call him John, was a brilliant leader and salesman, that he was liked by everyone, that everyone would go out of their way to assist him in building his business and not one single person from factory floor to board of directors had a bad thing to say about him. On asking my friend what it was about this man, that had everyone liking him and wanting to support and collaborate with him, the answer my friend gave was not John’s ability to anticipate what was coming next, say for example, in a competitive market, or to make decisions quickly, or to think critically. The answer my friend gave was plainly and simply, that John was always interested in other people. It always mattered to John how other people were doing, what was going on for them in their lives, what they needed in the way of support with their current role.

Surprising?

Consider this, the ability to anticipate, to think critically and to take decisive action are of the utmost importance for a leader and an organisation to be successful. Nevertheless, being an effective leader is equally about getting the right people to work with and collaborate with to build and sustain the vision and the plan. Finding and keeping the right people depends on building relationships with those people, and building successful relationships depends on the ability to understand peoples’ needs. We can only understand another persons needs if we have an ability to be empathic. In other words, understanding an individual, a group and a markets needs depends on an ability to put ourselves in their shoes and at least try to understand their perspective of the world, regardless of our differing experience, beliefs, attitudes and values.

Empathy as a term is thrown around a lot as something that we should all ideally develop to be effective in our relationships, as leaders, as colleagues, as friends, spouses, parents etc. Nevertheless, by many it is still viewed as one of those things over there in the corner that is a soft skill, and as leaders, how much time do we actually have to develop our soft skills as part of our staff training plan? It is also viewed as being the opposite to the concepts of decision-making etc that leaders need to have.

Consider this though, as globalisation increases, and the world becomes a smaller place, as borders collapse, and businesses expand into different cultures, the success of an organization depends more and more on building effective relationships.

Is it time to be more like John, in our ability as leaders to harness empathy within our organisation, and hence to have a real impact so that everyone can share the success, or should we turn our back on developing this skill and get left behind?…only you can decide.