Cheesecake Training
Cheesecake Training
Leadership development is not rocket science. It is not complex or mysterious.
Leaders need training pure and simple. Not complete changes in their approach to leadership, but simple skills development. Most “leaders” are given the latest training from the latest book by the latest guru. Whether it is Management By Objectives (MBO), Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma or the “blue ocean”, does it really matter what style or model of management, leadership, team building or quality control you follow? Profile 100 top leaders and no two leaders have exactly the same approach or model. Yet all great leaders have some core skills but very different approaches to these skills.
These core skills include:
1. Consistency and the ability to care for their people and their successes.
2. Methods of developing their people. Some may coach while others may mentor. Some leaders conduct regular training based upon a plan while others give employees freedom and leeway to develop.
3. Systems for improving the processes their people use. Some do it through a statistical approach such as MBO, TQM or Six Sigma. Others use PERT or FLOW charts and project management techniques.
4. Communication techniques that fit their personality. Some are direct and hands-on. Others are very hands-off and empowering.
In reality, all methods and styles can work if applied correctly. What is essential is that they fit the style of the leader. Leaders need to be taught how to be themselves, how to care about their people, how to listen, make decisions, delegate and grow their people. Most training is ineffective because it is cerebral, strictly auditory and only in the training room. No one learns in a training room! They get ideas. It is when leaders actually take those ideas out and use them that they learn.
A local HR team was tasked with putting on a meeting for 180 people. They conducted a full training needs analysis, arranged the venue, facilitator and all the details. In a short 10 minute meeting, the “big boss” shot down all their plans, changed key details and threw away over 100 hours of their best efforts. Other times, training dates get moved because the “big boss” from North America or Europe could not make it to Asia that week. All the plans, hotel reservations, flight schedules for dozens or hundreds of people had to be changed. Training and meetings should be scheduled months in advance and held inviolate. The pace of change is not an excuse for cancelling months of preparation. The pace of change is the reason those meetings and trainings are essential.
Once all the objectives are laid out, it should be about changing behaviours, not delivering content. When it comes to leadership training and development, less is more. Learn a bit, apply one of a dozen or more forms of group work to understand and apply the learning, then move on to the next point. While there are many other challenges to leadership training effectiveness like establishing ROI, follow-up issues, budget and time constraints, these tips may be within your scope to influence immediately.
Got comments or questions about cheesecake training? Just leave your comments here.
