Conducting Leadership Development as a Team

Have you ever attempted to change yourself? To lose weight, get more physically fit, or improve yourself in another way? Then, you know it’s not easy. It takes commitment, and personal change/improvement works better if you don’t try it alone. The same is the case for developing your (and your team’s) leadership.

I’ve been working in leadership and leadership development for decades, and it’s not easy to develop as a leader. It takes discipline, hard work, and, importantly, it goes better if you don’t do it alone. Here are several reasons why leadership development should be a team sport:

1. Feedback. It is tough to improve if you can’t record progress. Think of losing weight. It’s really tough to do without some measurement (i.e., a bathroom scale), but we can also rely on feedback from others (“You’re getting better!”). The same is true of leader development. You need to measure where you are now and be able to assess progress. That’s why we rely so much on others to give feedback in the area of leadership development. Asking others, “how am I doing?” is one approach. Of course, in formal leadership development, we rely on surveys to provide this sort of feedback. Feedback is an essential part of any development program.
2. Pairing for Motivation. In my classes and leadership development programs, we typically pair people up into dyads and/or teams. It is much easier to stay motivated if you have someone with similar goals working alongside you. It also helps in providing each other with feedback.
3. Mentoring. It is easier to improve your behavior if you have a positive role model to look up to and to help provide some personal guidance. Mentors can help with the “this is how I have done it” kind of information – offering tips, strategies and discussing what has worked and not worked for them in developing their personal leadership capacity. So, try to find a mentor to help you along on your leadership development journey.
4. Role of Coaching. If possible (and if you can afford it), nothing will aid leadership development more than enlisting the aid of a certified professional coach. Unlike mentors, coaches are trained specifically to help clients develop as leaders. Just like hiring any other professional counselor, make sure to do your research to pick a coach who has a proven track record and one that you feel comfortable with. We are enlisting professional coaches to help our college students’ leadership development, and it is proving to be a highly effective strategy.
5. Leader Development vs. Leadership Development. This is an important distinction, made clear by my colleague (and leadership development expert, David Day). Leader development refers to a leader developing their personal leadership capacity. Leadership development is improving a team’s collective leadership capacity.

As you develop personally as a leader, consider developing your team’s shared capacity to lead. True leadership doesn’t happen alone. It is the combined efforts of leaders and followers working together to get things done.