INTRODUCING THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FORUM

LDF is a unique,  internationally acclaimed approach to leadership development and has produced a 100% success rate in 35 seminar series, 7 countries and 1500+ participants from DuPont, Conoco, Honeywell, Procter & Gamble, WITCO, GE and others. 

Participants in LDF attend as members of natural work groups who collectively challenge their leadership ability to deal with significant subjects for which they are accountable, in real world terms and realistic time frames.  Participants without exception develop an action orientation toward leading a team based effort to take advantage of opportunity and resolve issues with a sense of urgency and authority.

LDF is based on the premise that simply acquiring knowledge of leadership through training is not sufficient and aims to create practical understanding of what leaders are and what they do, by drawing on and creating relevant personal experience.

Leadership Training: Too Often a Bad Investment

Training often has no measurable return (especially in field of leadership) and represents a net loss of time, energy, talent and organization resources.  Issues that produce this state include:

• Non strategic approach that does not create sustainable change in trainees or in their capability to lead change processes in the organization.
• Sponsorship by chain of command authority vs. genuinely effective leaders.
• Operates in the domain of Human Resources function vs. line organization.
• Not subject to rigorous examination of cause/effect, investment/return, increase in functional excellence/business effectiveness.
• Used to reward star performers often viewed as "charm school" polishing.
• Used as rescue for poor performers, often as last chance.
• Focus on acquisition of knowledge at expense of understanding.
• Designed and delivered by external organizations who lack understanding of internal culture, needs and issues; leaving trainee out of step with the organization he/she rejoins.
• Conforms to policy, procedures, guidelines and techniques that are frozen in time.

By contrast my design and delivery of "The Leadership Development Forum" is structured to produce measurable results, utilizes thinking of internal design team, aims for a positive return on investment and has a 100% success rate in achieving sustainable, increases in leader effectiveness and contribution to performance excellence and competitive  position.  More on training contrasted with development in following entries.

PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

• Effective leadership depends on understanding who leaders are and what they do.
• Understanding anything reuires learning from own experience by reflecting on previous experience or learning from conscious involvement in new experience.
• Learning from peers, trust in own experience, and reducing teacher dependency are elements of a learning process that promotes understanding.  Conversely, intensive pursuit of knowledge via leadership training is insufficient and can be a barrier to understanding.
• Pace of my approach to leadership development will be managed to allow for understanding to develop.
• Effective leading is never a "lone wolf" process and is exponentially increased in impact when partnered with like minded individuals, focused on high priority work.
• Leadership development is an open ended process, requiring support by partner leaders, and capable internal and external professionals skilled and experienced in the process of learning to understand.

These principles guide my approach to developing leaders and have produced a 100% success rate.

A Desirable Future Depends Entirely on Effective Leaders

The domain of leadership is in creating desirable futures for themselves and those who support them.  It is a completely unselfish act, devoid of ego needs and desire to create a favorable self-image.

Leaders are grounded in personal core values and are consciously aware of who they are in explicit terms, thereby being guided by conscience and aiming to live a life that conscienteously serves needs of others.  This grounding becomes a foundation for behavior and an energy source to build will to step up to the challenges of leadership.  Effective leadership NEVER occurs as a result of appointment, position, force of authority, or certification.  Leaders because of core values they stand on, are called to respond to leadership voids they believe are right for them to fulfill.

The future is created out of a void and involves a journey into unknown territory.  Because of this principle, leaders must stand firm on core values such that others have faith and trust in their process, they maintain credibility in any situation, and do not wobble or retreat in the face of adversity.  Core values also restrain leaders from taking foolish risks or placing others at peril, because the mark of an effective leader is an objective assessment of degree of skill required to successfully engage a particular situation.

Managers, supervisors and bosses operate in the present and at times in the past.  No matter how well they are grounded in core values, their process is incapable of pruposefully creating the future.