The Learning Executive Blog is launching a new series. We’re asking senior leaders:  What about your work keeps you up at night? or What makes you get out of the bed in the morning—and excited to start work? This month, Dr. Susan K. Grunin explains how working with leaders spurs her enthusiasm to start her work day.

Dr. Susan K. Grunin is a retired Senior Executive Service leader in the federal government. She consults with federal agencies on leadership and human capital strategies and designs leadership and coaching programs for senior executives.

Q: What makes you get out of bed in the morning—and excited to start work? 

A: It is the knowledge that good leaders make a difference. But that comes with hard work—both on the part of the leader and on the part of his or her executive coach. 

Research shows that combining executive coaching with leader development cohort programs does work. The McKinsey & Company article, “Why Leadership Development Programs Fail,” discusses the problems–and solutions–to general approaches to leadership development: “What we often find is a long list of leadership standards, a complex web of dozens of competencies, and corporate-values statements…. In practice, however, what managers and employees often see is an ‘alphabet soup’ of recommendations. We have found that when a company cuts through the noise to identify a small number of leadership capabilities essential for success in its business—such as high-quality decision making or stronger coaching skills—it achieves far better outcomes.” 

In my experience, a training program should be viewed as the beginning of the leadership development process, not the end. It’s critical that after the program is complete, there’s a sustained effort to maintain momentum and individualize learning. There are many ways to accomplish this. Some may even establish a learning cohort that meets regularly to discuss concepts.

It also can be valuable to conduct shorter training sessions over a longer period of time, such as four one-day sessions rather than one four-day session. Stretching out the learning avoids overloading the participant with information, which enables the concepts to be gradually assimilated in a real-world context. 

Case in point: Think Strategic Consulting (TSC), LLC, includes personal executive coaching as part of its “Leader Development Course.” It also establishes cohort leader groups. Likewise, TSC's “Leading the Way Course” employs the approach of offering shorter sessions over a longer time period. This particular course also uses Kouze and Posner's 5th edition of The Leadership Challenge as a major part of the framework, which also serves as an integral resource tool for the cohort leader group. 

Clearly, we all need to use the best ideas, methods, and tools that research has shown helps leaders grow and develop. And every day, I am excited to help leaders learn new ways to move their organizations in the right direction.