This is a question that we often get asked at Leader-Connect as people are apprehensive and daunted as who to approach and make that first step.
It is comparatively easy to improve leadership skills for an individual or across a leadership or management team. Most managers and directors in UK organisations have had little or no leadership training. They probably will have had management training, so will be competent in process and procedure, but less comfortable connecting with and inspiring people.
To improve leadership requires study, but even a little learning will reap significant reward. This study could mean reading relevant books, taking and online course or attending a residential leadership course. ‘The Leadership Book’ by our owner and former Sandhurst instructor Neil Jurd OBE is a bestselling self-study guide aimed at junior and middle leaders, but also often used at director and board level. Working through the book would lead to improved leadership. In terms of online study, the leadership platform Leader-Connect has some excellent certified short courses, for example: Introduction to Leadership.
Leadership focused coaching can also be a very effective way of improving individual or small group performance. Leadership coaching will be delivered by an expert in leadership who is an experienced coach. A typical leadership coaching session will see the coach introduce some relevant theory, and the client explore how that theory applies to their own situation. Neil Jurd often builds sessions around key theory from his book or other writing, and he works with leaders from various sectors. Senior leaders often balance leadership coaching for themselves with team development sessions that flow out of these coaching sessions, so issues that emerge in individual coaching can then be developed, explored or resolved in a team setting.
To really embed good leadership in an organisation it is important that leadership development occurs at all levels rather than just being aimed at junior leaders, and there are significant benefits to be had from putting all senior staff through the same course, so they are familiar with the same leadership concepts and vocabulary. Leader-Connect have been running a leadership development course for University of Sheffield managers for several years, with 26 managers completing the course in the ‘class of 25’ cohort. The impact of this training has been significant and may well have contributed to the university’s strong placement in the Global Top 100 university ranking.
Leader-Connect run similar courses for various organisations, including Sanofi pharmaceuticals and Alertacall. One of the most effective forms of leadership development is ‘experiential learning’. An experiential course involves the presentation of theory, which is then tried our and tested in Experiential Leadership Projects which are then explored in group review sessions. These courses are very engaging and very effective. Leader-Connect run courses in this style for various clients and the courses always get excellent reviews. The courses are popular because of the absence of Powerpoint.
To summarise, any leadership training will have a positive impact – buying team members a leadership book to study, subscribing them to online training, or booking a face-to-face training course are something that will help.
