Why Leadership & Team-Development Programs Fail

Research shows that most development programs fail to deliver expected returns. Here, experts offer tips to master the real drivers of behavior for sustainable change.

Every organization wants to maximize the potential of their leaders and employees in order to achieve superior results. In fact, significant investments are made in programs that aim to improve performance by changing the way leaders, employees or teams behave. However, research shows that most development programs fail to deliver expected returns. Too often, there is more effort put into the design of the program, instead of what people need to experience in order to develop. If executives understood the mechanics of the mind and what it takes to create sustainable behavioral change, they would rethink their approaches to leadership and employee development and challenge their current beliefs about how behavioral change actually happens. 

We now know so much about how the brain learns and how people develop. Recent advances in neuroscience are highlighting connections between cognitive and emotional functions that have the potential to revolutionize the way we develop our leaders and employees. In particular, the relationship between learning and emotion and what needs to happen in the brain for learning and behavioral change to take place. Those who are developing leadership and team development programs don’t always incorporate these advances in their approaches being. 

The following are the key reasons why most leadership- and team-development programs fail:

REASON #1:

LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS OF PARTICIPANTS

Personality assessments are often used in developmental programs to help leaders and team members to increase their self-awareness. However, existing approaches focus on strengths/weaknesses or preferences, leaving out insight into unconscious patterns of behavior and emotions that typically get in the way of development, despite everyone’s best intentions.  For leaders or employees to develop, they must understand how this happens for them by being aware of their nature, emotions, and how their brain is organized. This allows them to know how they process information and what gets in the way -- fear, embarrassment, etc. -- of trying new behaviors and shifting from unproductive reactions to other people and work situations.

Read complete at: hreonline.com wrote by Anne Dranitsaris and Heather Hilliard

Related articles

• Damon Williams Joins INSIGHT Into Diversity Editorial Board
• Learn The Secrets Of Adaptive Leadership
• 5 Leadership Trends to Watch in 2013 By Lindsay Olson
• Leaders Need a Few No People

Leadership And Team Development - Insider Leadership Secrets

Teams are comprised of a leader and its members. A team is one unit that works towards a common goal. Increasingly, organizations are making strategic choices to support life long learning, leadership and team development in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage.

They say that good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. Managers who will be promoted are the ones who not only manage efficiently but also lead their teams effectively. They are the ones who inspire their workers into higher levels of teamwork. Effective leadership is one of the most important components of good teamwork.

The concept of teamwork is extremely important to the success of any team. Teamwork and unselfishness create the backbone of a great team, without them a team cannot realistically compete. Indeed, the nature of teams may be changing, but the underlying nature and benefits of teams are not.

Good teamwork starts with a shared understanding of its importance. Many organizations recruit people with an aptitude for and leaning towards teamwork. Although team members have clear and designated responsibilities, they help others when required. Good teamwork behavior is recognized and rewarded. Teamwork is built into the organisation culture, and it has to be carefully nurtured.

Again, a productive team has members that share common goals, a common vision, and have some level of interdependence that requires both verbal and physical interaction. They may come together for a number of different reasons, but their goals are the same. Similarly, the ends may differ but the means by which one gets there is the same –teamwork. This is the first step to leadership and team development. In whatever setting, effective teamwork can produce incredible results.

Source: articlesbase.com

Related articles

• Fine Tuning your Leadership Development Skills
• Leadership Development Process: Assess - Develop - Practice - Refine
• The Importance of Leadership Development
• Develop Leadership Skills in Any Job