Nancy Probst in North Carolina responds:
Hey, David Moon! Great to see your name.
I always have a few opinions as you well know. Living in Greensboro, I've
gotten to know many folks at Center for Creative Leadership. We also are
the
home of Farr Associates, Staub Leadership Consultants, Carolina Consulting
Group, etc. All are leadership development organizations. The trends I see
include:
1. Most leadership development focuses first on helping people understand
who THEY really are - their beliefs, values, practices, obstacles, shadows,
etc. The premise being, we can't lead others until we can lead ourselves.
2. The focus seems to be shifting to leadership more than management.
Again, the premise that knowledge workers prefer to be led rather than
managed.
3. Leadership development does not, cannot begin and end in the classroom
for results to occur. The drastic increase in coaching (Coach U, etc)
demonstrates that people are seeking ongoing assistance in developing both
in
leadership and in personal development. While they may be introduced to
valued learnings in the classroom, to actually begin the process of changing
and implementing their learnings, they require mentoring over time. Many
of
the formal programs mentioned above are beginning to add that component
(often optional) to their programs.
4. Leadership development is a process, not a program. Easier said than
done but very true.
5. While self-directed learning may be a component of this process, if
that's all that's done, I don't see it being any more effective that the
programs that were previously offered in the classroom. It may be a less
expensive, less labor intensive way of going about it but you get what you
pay for.
I'm looking forward to more responses to this question.
Nancy Probst
NProbst261@aol.com