There are a plethora of leadership development programs being offered. Most are designed to keep the participants coming back again and again. Ironically, when leadership is taught in academic setting, it is taught as a process that is personalized to the individual with appropriate feedback and mentoring. Consequently, most leadership training fails to create better leaders because:
- Training is skills-based versus process-based. Possessing the skills without the process only addresses a portion of what is needed to become a better leader. It’s like the chef and the ordinary cook setting out to make the same dish. They may both have the same ingredients, but the dish created by the chef will usually be much better because the chef knows the process intimately based on extensive practice in making the dish. Additionally, following a process leads to continuous improvement.
- They use a one-size-fits-all instead of an individualized approach. Not everyone has the skills taught in the classes or can be good at them once they’ve learned them. Unfortunately, not everyone can utilize the skills taught in the class or can be good at them once they’ve learned them. Each person must leave the training with their personal leadership vision based on their own innate qualities and abilities.
- There is no follow up or feedback loop to see if what was learned was properly implemented. This approach is contrary to that used in most academic organizational leadership programs and is supported by the Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle. Kolb views learning as a multi-stage integrated process with each stage supportive of and feeding into the next. Effective learning only occurs when a learner is able to execute all four stages of the model.
- There are no objective means to measure the effectiveness of the training. Most training programs are missing an objective means to measure leadership growth, which is imperative to demonstrate a leadership program’s effectiveness. As William Edwards Deming, the leading management thinker in the field of quality, once said, “Without data you’re just another person with an opinion.” That is where most organizations currently are in determining their leadership program effectiveness. Our program utilizes the proprietary Leadership IMPACT Assessment to measure and monitor leadership growth.
Leadership Program Comparison Summary
| Typical Leadership Program | Elite Leadership Program |
|---|---|
| 1 class (one and done) | 3, 6 or 12-month improvement journey |
| Skills focused | Process-based |
| One size fits all approach | Personalized to the individual |
| No feedback loop to see if training implemented properly | Reflection and coaching feedback throughout program |
| No measurable leadership growth results | Measurable leadership growth results |
True leadership is a process that must be practiced every day to be effective. It’s like a maintenance drug for high blood pressure that must be taken daily to avoid potentially dire consequences. It’s like athletes, amateur or professional, who continually works hard to improve their already exceptional abilities in order to become better and more competitive. It is the same way any other professional works to become better, including:
- Physicians
- Musicians & Singers
- Artists
- Professors
- Chefs
This leads to the Elite Leadership Process™, which is an individualized, continuously-improving leadership development program based on an individual’s innate qualities, personality and abilities that is practiced every day incorporating regular reflection and coaching. The leadership development approach used in this program is designed to be learned once and adaptable to almost any situation the leader or potential leader may encounter.
The Elite Leadership Training Programs are delivered online programs, onsite program or onsite workshop and is designed to help leaders embrace a leadership improvement process that they can continue for a lifetime.
