The Importance of Leadership Development

The Importance of Leadership Development

Leadership development is in crisis, and has been for a while. The Institute for Corporate Productivity released their annual research report on The Top 10 Critical Human Capital Issues: Enabling Sustained Growth through Talent Transparency. In high performance organizations the top 10 human capital issues for 2014 are:

1. Succession Planning
2. Leadership Development
3. Knowledge Retention
4. Coaching
5. Managing/Coping with Change
6. Succession Planning (Non-executive)
7. Measuring/Rewarding Behavior
8. Talent Shortages in Critical Areas
9. Measuring/Rewarding Results
10. Internal Communication

The Institute for Corporate Productivity has conducted the Human Capital Issues survey for several years, and leadership development is consistently ranked at the top as being a critical issue. Shouldn’t organizations be investing the resources to develop leaders since this is proving to be an ongoing critical issue? When you look at the list of critical issues that organizations have to address, they are interrelated. For instance, high performance organizations must develop leaders to fill the succession pipeline. When they coach and develop their leaders, that’s one way to reatin institutional knowledge. All these steps underpin the importance of leadership development.

According to the survey, “Thirty-four percent of top companies indicate they are effective at developing leaders, and they are getting worse at it. The influx of Millennials as well as the move to flatter, more matrixed organizational structures dictates the need for improved skills in areas such as coaching and the use of technology tools to collaborate effectively.” The survey results highlight the ineffectiveness of organizations when it comes to leadership development.

Should professionals take responsibility for their development, and do invisible mentors play a role? I think that people should take responsibility for the own leadership development since most companies are not going a great job. One of the ways for aspiring leaders to develop themselves, is to image the behaviors of great leaders, that’s what Napoleon Hill did. Along with that, they also have to develop their minds and read the kinds of books that the most successful people read. So invisible mentors do matter in leadership development.

While I was thinking about the implications of the results of the study, I was reminded of two books that I have read that demonstrate leadership in action – Watership Down and The Hobbit. Both books show that leaders are made, which gives me hope that we can address the leadership development crisis that most companies are facing.

Related Posts

Book Review/Summary, Watership Down: A Novel – Richard Adams

The Hobbit (Movie Tie-In) by JRR Tolkien, Book Review

Additionally, in Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill lists the 11 Major Attributes of Leadership. Hill spent over 25 years researching and interviewing the most successful men at the time. The leadership attributes are based on years of researching the topic.

1. “Unwavering Courage based upon knowledge of self, and of one's occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader very long.
2. Self-Control. The man who cannot control himself, can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one's followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.
3. A Keen Sense of Justice. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.
4. Definiteness of Decision. The man who wavers in his decisions, shows that he is not sure of himself. He cannot lead others successfully.
5. Definiteness of Plans. The successful leader must plan his work, and work his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical, definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later he will land on the rocks.
6. The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.
7. A Pleasing Personality. No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors of a Pleasing Personality.
8. Sympathy and Understanding. The successful leader must be in sympathy with his followers. Moreover, he must understand them and their problems.
9. Mastery of Detail. Successful leadership calls for mastery of details of the leader's position.
10. Willingness to Assume Full Responsibility. The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift this responsibility, he will not remain the leader. If one of his followers makes a mistake, and shows himself incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he who failed.
11. Cooperation. The successful leader must understand, and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same. Leadership calls for POWER, and power calls for COOPERATION.”

The 11 major leadership attributes are a guide for would-be leaders. Leadership development is much more than leading others, it is also about leading yourself. You have to learn to lead yourself before you can lead others. If you are a high potential and feel as if you are not getting the leadership development that you deserve, why not be proactive? Start by reading Watership Down and The Hobbit if you haven’t done so already to see leadership in action. And spend some time reviewing Napoleon Hill’s 11 Major Attributes of Leadership. Leadership development is too important for you not to invest in it.

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Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people.

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