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    You are here Home » development

    10 Ways to Take Charge of Your Own Leadership Development

    Last updated on Oct 28, 2014 by Dan McCarthy · This post may contain affiliate links

    This post was recently published at Smartblog
    on Leadership
    .

    When I first
    started in the field of leadership development (when gas was 89 cents a
    gallon), the model we used looking like this:

    When someone
    got promoted to team leader, supervisor, or manager, they were sent a memo (no
    email yet) from HR informing them that they have been registered for a
    mandatory 4 week supervisory training course.

    When they
    showed up, some (or most) of them kicking and screaming, HR told them everything
    they had to learn, showed them step-by-step details, made them practice (role
    plays), and then sent them off to do good and no harm never to be seen or heard
    from again.

    Sadly, there
    are many organizations that are still using this outdated method of leadership
    development. While this model is inherently flawed in a number of ways, the
    biggest problem with it is that people won’t grow or change unless they want to. They need to be intrinsically
    motivated to change, and in order to be motivated, they need to have a sense of
    autonomy, or control.

    While
    force-feeding leadership development was never a good idea, neither is going
    too far in the other extreme. Some organizations have adopted a philosophy that
    says “you’re in charge of your own development”. Which sounds great, but it
    often ends up really meaning “good luck, you’re on your own, now sink or swim”.
    They eliminate all training programs,
    budgets, and support, and mandate “individual development plans”, without
    teaching people how to develop on
    their own.

    If that’s the
    situation you find yourself, here are 10 ways to put yourself in the driver’s
    seat and take charge of your own development:

    1. Find out for yourself what really matters. Don’t just rely on the HR-produced
    formal leadership competency model. Most of these are so complicated or
    sanitized they aren’t very helpful at all when it comes to figuring out how to
    succeed as a leader in your organization. Instead, ask around and find out who
    the most respected leaders are, then go and talk to them about what skills and
    mindsets are the most important and why.

    2. Go get feedback. Don’t wait for a formal 360 assessment,
    or for someone to tell you where you’re screwed up when it’s too late to do
    something about it. There are a number of free 360 assessment tools out there-
    just
    do a search. Here’s 10 more ways to get candid feedback, including one
    of my favorites, “feedforward”. Everyone is different, and will have different
    learning needs. Find out what yours are instead of conforming to what everyone
    else is told to learn.

    3. Write your own development plan. Don’t wait for your boss to write it,
    or for HR to tell you to write one. If it’s your development, then it’s your
    plan. If you don’t have a template or know how to write one,
    here’s a few samples.

    4. Find your own training – then ask for
    it.
    Don’t wait to be
    sent to class, or wait for your boss to make the offer. After you’ve completed
    steps 1-3, find a training program that addresses your specific development
    needs. If you pick it, you’ll own it, and be much more motivated to learn and
    change. Sure, budgets might be tight, but if you put a good business case
    together, you just might be surprised. Maybe you offer to meet your company halfway
    – you attend on your own time of they pay for it, or you offer to pay half
    yourself.

    5. Ask for an executive coach. Executive coaches are usually provided
    to select executives on their way up, or executives in trouble on their way
    out. However, I’ve heard of plenty of organizations that will approve coaching
    to an executive who steps forward and asks on their own. Again, you never know.
    When it comes to your own development, you have to be the squeaky wheel!

    6. Negotiate your work assignments and next
    jobs.
    Before you take
    that next assignment or job, make sure it’s an assignment or job where there
    will be ample opportunities to learn, grow, and develop. Sure, we don’t always
    have a choice, but if you do, don’t let your company or boss force fit you into
    roles that just play to your strengths.

    7. Find your own mentors. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a
    mentor to be formally “assigned” to you. Find your own. Look for those that you
    admire that can give you advice, and ask them. Most people would be flattered.

    8. Read books. Yes, books! This is a must for
    continuous development as a leader, and something I’m seeing less and less.
    While blogging “top 10 lists” is what I do, I also make sure I’m reading at
    least a few leadership and management books each year. It requires an attention
    span of greater than 2 minutes, which is getting harder and harder to maintain.

    9. Start with yourself before you coach
    others.
    More and more
    organizations are saying that it’s the manager’s job to develop employees.
    However, in an organization where every manager is developing others and not
    developing themselves, you have to wonder if anyone is really developing at
    all. When you learn to take charge of your own development, you’ll be a role
    model and have more credibility when you show your employees how to take charge
    of their own development.

    10. Carve out the time and treat it as a
    priority.
    You’ve
    probably heard the story about a hiker that came upon a woodsman in the forest,
    vigorously chopping down a tree - with a very dull ax. Noticing the slow
    progress being made, he asked the woodsman why he didn't stop and sharpen his
    ax. ''I haven't time,'' the reply was. ''I've got to chop down all these
    trees.''
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    Dan is an expert in leadership and management development. For over 20 years Dan has helped thousands of leaders and aspiring leaders improve their leadership capabilities. Read More

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