Not too long ago a friend commented that leadership development is a “gooey” science. By that, he meant that it is difficult to quantify the skills of a leader. We see the fruit of good leadership and the effects of bad leadership. But how can leadership effectiveness be measured and developed?
A leader I met wanted his team to raise their leadership game and do it in a way that would sustain their development. He went further to describe a relational process with a competency-based assessment to evaluate whether people were moving forward, or backward in their leadership skills. As he described what it was he was looking for, I was thinking to myself about the system I have used over the last 7 years to train leadership coaches within teams, churches and organizations.
After we discussed this further I pointed him to the flyer entitled “Developing Effective Leaders” which is a helpful summary of the process I described to him. After a few more conversations with his senior leadership team, they decided to invest a year in the process and then evaluate how their people responded. At the end of the first year the team gathered to report – the feedback was stellar! Based on those results, the team decided to expand the circle and continue the effort with some of the original participants. Now they are two years in, and the proof of concept suggests that more and more the coaching, combined with a competency-based leadership development resources are meeting and surpassing expectations. Leaders are being developed, a coaching culture is being created and disciples are being made.
See if “Developing Effective Leaders” addresses some of the questions you have about developing leaders. If you have other systems that you use and wouldn’t mind sharing with others, please enter the name with a brief description below. Thank you for your suggestions…
