Three Keys to Development: Assessment, Challenge & Support

This post is based on Three Keys to Development: Using Assessment, Challenge, and Support to Drive Your Leadership, by Henry Browning and Ellen Van Velsor. Center for Creative Leadership, 1999.

Have you ever experienced an intense period of learning and growth in your career? Perhaps it was your first "real" job out of college. Or when you stepped up to lead a critical project with a make-or-break deadline. Maybe it was learning to manage the various needs, styles and temperaments in your department. What sets these times apart from the remainder of your work life?

The Center for Creative Leadership’s research and experience shows there are three key elements that make the difference between an average experience and one that drives leadership development. Experiences that combine assessment, challenge and support are more likely to be key, developmental times.

Assessment
Assessment is information that describes your current strengths and level of effectiveness, as well as areas that need improvement. Assessment and feedback from others is critical for a clear, honest evaluation. Our self-assessments are often out of line with how others see us, so relying on that view alone can be deceptive and dangerous.
Assessments may be formal or informal, depending on whether you are attending a leadership development program and what kind of review and evaluation options are offered by your organization. Formal assessment may include personality inventories and 360-degree feedback, or routine evaluations and performance reviews. Just as important is informal, ongoing feedback from people you work with.
Make an assessment when you take on a new role, when your job changes, when there has been a major organizational change, or when you haven't made an assessment for 12-18 months.

Challenge
A challenging situation is one that is viewed as difficult, a hurdle to jump. Typically, to meet a challenge you are stretched out of your comfort zone and are asked to try new things. Challenge encourages your growth as a leader, helps you contribute to the organization and keeps you creatively engaged in your work.
Challenge can come in many different packages: you may be given a promotion, move to a new department, or faced with organizational changes like a merger or restructuring. You may receive information that goes against your beliefs, knowledge or perspectives. Situations outside of work ... such as starting a family or dealing with personal hardship ... present their own challenges.
Keep in mind, however, there is such a thing as too much challenge. If the demands of your job seriously outstrip your skills and understanding, you face a strong chance of failure. Tough demands are not always developmental opportunities. You will either need to increase your support resources to manage the level of stress and challenge, or make change to reduce the level of challenge.

Support
Support is an often-overlooked element of professional development. Support is a means of enhancing your self-confidence, affirming your strengths, and guiding your acquisition of skills needed to meet new challenges. When faced with tough assessments or difficult challenges, support can make the difference between an overall positive experience and one that leads to frustration or failure.
Support can come from spouses, significant others, bosses, peers or work colleagues, your direct reports, friends, coaches, mentors, community volunteers, religious leaders or anyone else. When considering a person as a source of support, think of the role you want that person to play:
Counselor: Provides emotional support and encouragement and lets you vent your feelings.
Cheerleader: Can express confidence in your current abilities and in your ability to learn and grow.
Reinforcer: Rewards you for your progress . keeps you on track.
Cohort: Is in a situation similar to yours and can offer empathy.
Mentor: A formal provider of long-term support and guidance through experience and example.
Coach: A formal provider of focused support geared toward acquiring a specific skill, overcoming a specific hurdle.

Where Are You?
Does your current situation have a balance of assessment, challenge and support? If not, chances are you are not likely to grow as a leader until something changes. The good news is that you can take charge, whatever your situation, and begin to make positive change happen. To drive your development, you must assess your situation and your skills, seek challenges that are developmentally appropriate, and create support for helping you meet those challenges.

A work situation that carries too little challenge has its own problems. You may become bored, unmotivated, or even burned out. Some things to do to create greater challenge:
Make a job or organization change.
Add new tasks, responsibilities, or goals to your existing job.
Look for developmental opportunities outside of work.
Seek out new perspectives.