Billions of dollars are spent on leadership development, and yet, our leaders are not ready for today’s challenges. Research increasingly shows that most programs are failing.

Read our whitepaper to explore the research and how to fix your leadership program.

Leadership Development for Long-Term Change

What makes a leader? Psychologist and leadership expert Daniel Goleman has researched this for decades. His answer is emotional intelligence.

The need for it is greater than ever in today's complex global world. Linear thinking and command and control were successful after the industrial revolution, but people now expect fluid leadership styles along with synergistic intuition.

And these things can’t be taught.

They have to be experienced, because to develop these traits, we need to tap into the limbic system. This area of the brain that deals with feelings, impulses, and desires is essentially the connection to emotional intelligence.

As Goleman mentions in his HBR article “What Makes a Leader,” the “limbic system learns best through motivation, extended practice, and feedback.”

Despite this, most leadership programs try to teach in ways that appeal to the prefrontal cortex, or in other words, the logical part of the brain. This makes little difference to leaders because we need to target the emotional brain, which requires a different approach.

Successful leadership development programs need the following:

• Stories – By being exposed to international projects and assignments as well as various coaches, mentors, and stakeholders, leaders don’t just listen to different viewpoints. They also question their own mental models to start fine-tuning their leadership identities.

• Learning challenges – Without facing tough experiences in life, we never learn. So, we all need challenging projects and even so-called difficult people to grow.

• Making sense of it all – As we touched on in our blog on the comfort food of learning, vertical development allows leaders to change. Book clubs and group coaching are great examples because they provide multiple ideas whilst giving leaders the confidence to try things out in their day-to-day.

Who Ate Our Culture?

Management and leadership guru Peter Drucker famously said, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But who or what eats culture?

We are our environments and vice versa. As such, we need both a learning culture and a safe environment that encourages individuals to challenge their biases and to come together for a common goal.

However, most organizations promote individuals and support hierarchical career development rather than focusing on teams.

As a result, self-interest takes over and your culture is devoured by the needs of a few elite individuals.

As this paper on leadership development further explains, not only do most leadership development programs neglect the team, but they also often ignore politics.

No one wants politics, but if we don’t talk about the issues and dangers, how can we hope to make leaders aware of the delicate balance between self-interest and the common good?

To nurture the best culture for your organization, ensure:

• Cohort learning – As previously explained in “How to Stop Failing at Leadership Development,” learning should involve the community. Groups that co-learn, for example, book clubs, develop a common language and way of behaving that inspires them to support each other.

• Inclusivity – Everyone can be a leader within their remit. In fact, the more people you develop, including low performers, the more you transform your culture and reduce politics.

• Measurability – Development programs are increasingly being measured with, for instance, the Kirkpatrick model. The Dupont Bradley Curve also gives you a useful framework to check in on culture.

Make Your Transition to Modern Leadership Development

Developing leaders, or any adult, is hard because it means we have to appeal to the emotional part of the brain. The one that’s wrapped in mystery and instinct.

Nevertheless, book clubs are a powerful way to open up that mystery. They leverage the wisdom of groups and stories such that people can self-reflect and practice in-situ.

Furthermore, a book club or group coaching session promotes social connectivity and co-responsibility that encourage people to grow into new perspectives and ways of being. As a result, you rewire some neural networks and you set the stage for long-term change.

Don’t miss our whitepaper for all the details.