Organizations are more complex than two days of training.
Leadership Training alone can not fix a company’s organizational and leadership problems. Yet, companies have been willing to pay for the chance to impact change through training. Globally, in 2015, companies were spending $356 billion on training programs. Did they achieve a good return on their investment? What are the keys to implementing effective change in any organization?
Here are some simple ideas to consider when exploring Leadership Training in your organization:
Are training that your company is buying created for your organization based on your company values and core leadership competencies or is it basically an off-the-shelf program?
Senior management drives change based on a clear set of business objectives. Those objectives need to be driven by a clear set of company values. Senior managers need good information to make decisions. And, their people need to be comfortable sharing data no matter how bad it may be. Employees need to receive guidance and opportunities to practice in a safe environment how to give and receive feedback.
Is the company open to honest feedback from employees?
Politics plays a role in most companies. Employee gamesmanship and positioning are detrimental to senior management and the company. They tend to provide information senior management wants and not necessarily what they need to hear. Companies need candid feedback about impediments to efficacy and execution, including senior management’s conduct. Even if it sounds strange, a lot of participants that are sent to training do not see the connection between the workshop they are attending and their daily work.
Is the training relevant to the business?
Company setup needs to reflect the openness to the changes made to move forward. The content and direction of the training need to be relevant to the industry. Don’t use training companies that offer off-the-shelf content that does not even use your industry terminology. And it requires a combination of workshops, coaching, and assessment of skills.
What happens after the training? Does the company offer ongoing coaching and training consulting to achieve positive change?
The problem with most leadership programs is that they end. Employees go back to their everyday lives, and old habits creep back into the day-to-day operation. Successful programs provide ongoing support and training to help managers apply what they learned to their daily routine. Change happens over time.
Can you measure the impact of your training on the organization?
As a continued follow-up to your leadership journey, can you measure the progress? Is it positive, negative, or static? A positive leadership journey will take time to impact change. Leadership and culture must be in it for the long haul and commit to creating a safe environment, a culture of openness, and leadership for all business units.
At LPA, we can help your organization reach these strategic objectives with our Leadership Potential Accelerator Program, addressing the pitfalls most companies find themselves with leadership training. And you will be able to track the improvement of your leadership skills.
Has your company implemented leadership programs for managers?
I was very lucky to conduct an interview with Michael Aagaard Andersen, a world-class brand builder who was my best leader ever at the beginning of my career at LEGO. I never experienced such an outstanding level of empathy, motivation and support. What an example to follow. He is sharing his view on some extremely important questions about leadership. Enjoy the start of the year with the thought-generating answers of Michael.
What three leadership strengths do leaders need to be successful?
So, Krisztina, in my mind, leadership is quite simply the capacity a person has to influence the behaviour of others toward a goal, and to do things they would not otherwise have the skills or motivation to achieve.
Hence, to be successful as a leader you need the ability – to formulate an inspiring vision, – to secure alignment, and – to coach the team to deliver on strategic goals.
Besides the above, the leadership skill that I believe has helped me the most in my international business career, is my intercultural sensitivity and self-awareness – or as you prefer to call it at LPA, my capacity for self-reflection. Only if you know yourself fully, can you be a great leader.
What was a moment in your life when self-reflection helped you to achieve a breakthrough?
I’ve made a habit of performing self-reflection almost daily, in connection with my exercise regime. Whether going over a hill on my mountain bike, cross-country running or kayaking, as soon as my body begins to release the feel-good chemicals, dopamine and endorphins, I start reflecting on the issues facing the businesses that I am involved with. Often my most profound breakthrough ideas have come to me in connection with self-reflection during an exercise high.
What stands in the way of self-reflection for most leaders?
I can only speak for myself but a lack of time can be a road-block. Also, as an active board member and advisor, I have seen “not invented here” and even arrogance stand in the way of this important leadership skill. But the biggest self-reflection “killer” is the inability to listen, and not being open to feedback. I have come across this problem both in early-stage startups and established enterprises.
Leaders suffering from this inability need to come and see you and your team and get on your world-renowned LPA program to open their minds!
What role do the skills of unlearning and relearning play in the development of a leader?
If leaders are able to un-learn skills that don’t serve them any more, this makes space for new, necessary behaviours. Then, these new habits and ways of working can be re-learned in a better way.
Today, what do you think is the primary reason people are leaving their jobs?
Krisztina, we have long known that employees do not leave their jobs – they leave bad managers – managers with low emotional intelligence, that micro-manage, exhibit a closed mindset, that play favourites, that bully, blame, and steal credit. And the pandemic has only accelerated this trend.
Today, what is the best way for leaders to remotivate their teams?
If the past 2 years have taught us anything, it’s that employees crave focus on the human aspects of work. Employees are exhausted. They want a renewed sense of purpose in their work. They want meaningful interactions, and they want to feel a sense of shared identity.
To achieve all this, today many senior executives are being challenged to rethink and reimagine how they lead. Now is the time for leaders to unlearn and relearn how to best perform in a post-Covid world – and that’s something I know you people at LPA really excel at helping them to achieve.
Thank you Michael for your thoughtful response to our questions.
Do you want to understand how the LPA Method could help your organization?
Today, we are talking with Olena Tymofiyiva, CEO of ALD Automotive Hungary. ALD Automotive offers corporate fleet management and long-term leasing services. They carry out more than 1,700,000 cars worldwide in 43 countries. Owned by the French group Société Générale, which is the dominant financial institution of the eurozone. ALD Automotive is a leader in both Europe and Hungary.
As CEO for Hungary, Olena provides great insight into leadership expectations through practical experience, observation, and leading teams.
What is something that you expect from ALL your leaders?
First of all – the attitude. Being passionate and determined toward what they are doing.
Another important detail is higher-than-average standards. Standards become habits. And then habits become outcomes. Exceptional results are almost always achieved by humans with higher-than-average standards.
Do you think you need to be a born leader or can you become a great leader by developing leadership skills?
Well, it is definitely both. Leadership is a mindset. There is no universal definition of what makes the best leader. In the same way chefs specialize in certain cuisines or musicians master specific genres, leaders can lead in different ways.
The only things, probably, that keep someone from becoming a sound leader are lack of character, effort and desire. Everything else can be developed. It’s not what you’ve been given, but rather what you do with it that matters.
Some people mistakenly believe that a leadership “title” gives them the “authority” to lead and be more effective. I would say, if you need a title to be heard, you don’t have a voice probably.
What is the role of self-reflection in your opinion as a leader?
Taking a step outside of yourself is very powerful. It helps leaders in three different directions:
1. Acknowledgment – facing the fear & disabling its ability to frighten you
2. Gratitude – having a moment of gratitude and compassion for yourself and other people
3. Setting goals to grow – taking actions toward meaningful things based on true values
What type of leadership development do you think works best?
I strongly believe that only ability to learn, unlearn and relearn makes people agile and ready for challenges. Seeking, acquiring and sharing knowledge should be a continuous process throughout the life of a leader, to benefit your career and keep you ahead of the game. It’s a well-known fact that humans who changed the world are those who were brave enough to change themselves first.
How can leaders maximize their potential?
The first and most important thing to know about leadership is that it’s not a position. It’s a process. Your ability to lead others is only as good as your ability to be the leader of you. Before you can maximize your leadership potential with others, you should be well-led yourself. One of the powerful tools to use is coaching and mentoring, as well as constant re-evaluation. It gives a sense of direction, accountability, and allows leaders to measure how they are doing.
What advice would you give today’s leaders to follow in our complex world?
Stay curious. Exceed expectations. Be ambitious. Shift from reactive to proactive.
Take calculated risks to learn continuously and stay out of your comfort zone. It’s ok to have fears, but it is important to find the strength to face and overcome them. By default, we do things we like and enjoy. When we start doing uncomfortable things, we grow.
If you see a problem and want to do something about it, act. If someone else is doing something inspiring, help. You have nothing to lose. Don’t expect anything in return.
Listen to diverse opinions and feedback. Surround yourself with people that inspire you. Who you work with is equally if not more important than what you work on and where you work at.
Instead “all or nothing” – each step matters. Instead “life is a competition” –life is an adventure. Enjoy it.
I want to share the success story of the French owner of a car part designing and manufacturing company.
Their HR manager asked me to run a training for their shift and team leaders. The training was tough because I was bombarded with complaints about dire circumstances and many smaller and bigger critical working conditions.
I felt that participants were so full of negative thoughts that it was nearly impossible to make them pay attention and open them up for learning. So I offered them to share their problems with the owner. They gave me their green light, and since they felt that someone cared about them, they started to be active in the workshop.
How to react to employee feedback
The day after the training, I sent a text message to the owner and told him that I heard some complaints about the working conditions in his company and asked him if he wanted to hear about them. He immediately shared his availability with me, and in a few days, we had our first meeting. He even booked a meeting room in a hotel to have a safe place for confidential discussions. He took notes and listened carefully to every word I said. He sometimes stopped me and asked for clarification. A week later, he called me and asked if I was willing to coach him and told me about the changes he initiated. I was so impressed by his speed of action!
During his 10-session coaching journey, he did a lot of self-reflection about the management culture in his company. Very soon, his organization saw some significant changes. The reforms enacted were over 15 years ago.
Yesterday I attended a company event with his management team. He was also there. I observed how carefully he was making sure that nobody had to stay alone at dinner. He even put together tables so that people could sit together in bigger groups. Attention to detail has always been essential for him. It felt amazing to think back on how huge the impact of self-reflection, willingness, and ability to change can be. The once “cold” owner became an exceptional, inspiring leader with superior emotional intelligence. He needed openness for feedback, even if it hurt a lot sometimes, to look into the mirror, unlearn old habits, and learn new tools and techniques for his management skillset.
Want to learn how Learn – Unlearn – Relearn can help you? Contact Us
What are some parallels between coaching, time management, and saying no?
Does the expression “To-do list” ring a bell? Have you ever created one? Have you ever been frustrated for not being able to finish your tasks? Or have you ever attended a training after which you thought, “It was so interesting, and there was so much great content in it!” And what happened after a few days and weeks? If someone had asked you what your takeaway was, what would you have said? Would you have been able to articulate the main area of focus clearly? It is not hard to believe that research shows that an average human being remembers only 10% of what you hear after 24 hours.
How to focus
That is why the most significant responsibility of every trainer is to make sure that it is clear what the participating potential or existing leader should remember. What determines what should be in focus? It depends on a lot of different factors. What are the critical leadership competencies of the organization? What are the key values reflected in the behavior of the leader? What are his current strengths and areas of development? On a scale of 1-10, how motivated is the leader to work on the given area? After putting all those questions in a blender, the right focus area will emerge.
Through a straightforward process of designing and facilitating the LPA journey, the participant receives feedback, a combination of the observation of all participants and the trainer. Out of this 5-6 pages document, the participant decides one and only one area of focus. It is tempting to list several items. Evidence shows that leaders tend to define many activities not just for themselves but also for their team members.
What happens in a lot of cases? Only a fraction of the activities listed on the to-do list is accomplished, which causes frustration and lack of motivation. In the worst case for some perfectionists, this results in burn-out because they will do more than they can. As a leader, it is the critical responsibility to say no in two ways:
One is to themselves. When the manager thinks about what they want to accomplish, they have to say no to most tasks. They should be able to delegate and restructure the jobs. One of the easiest ways is to say no to meetings that are not entirely relevant to them. Back-to-back meetings are not just exhausting but also have the potential of finding time for what is essential.
The other “no” is when they define what their expectations are for their team members. They have to help them to see what is essential and what is not. What is the one key area that will work to move the team member towards their goal and towards the results expected by the organization? Every single member of the value chain should be clear about the one Key Area of Focus.
That is also what we teach and use in our development program by helping the leader see his/her Key Area of Focus in the leader’s development journey. Because if Everything is important, nothing is important.
Contact Us to learn how Leadership Potential Accelerators’ leadership journey can help you.
If we believe in the definition that Ego is our operational center that defines who we are and why we are different from others, then we can state that a great leader has to accept his/her team members. I mean, accept WHO they are.
How to appreciate team members
Great leaders make sure that the team members feel this. When they feel accepted and valued and can work and exist based on their values at work, they will be much more open to receive (and give) constructive, corrective feedback. And the feedback has to focus on HOW the person did something and not on the person. In other words, it is not about the person but the behaviors.
And let me share a piece of insider information with you, just today; that is how we trainers do it as well. We do our best to appreciate participants’ comments and shared ideas. We make sure that their Ego feels safe and respected, and when they say something that is not right, we ask them why they think it is correct. It is almost always an open discussion in which the participant can draw their conclusion.
And sometimes we change our minds because we learn something from our participants! Suppose the trainer is 100% sure that the participant’s opinion is not correct, and an open dialogue does not help because it is not the right tool at the given moment. In that case, the trainer can share different options, and the magic question can be asked: “Which option do you think could work best A, B, or C?”
Leaders can achieve a lot by respecting the person, communicating that, and correcting behaviors. It is hard to overcommunicate respect and acceptance. By regularly giving positive and constructive feedback, team members will open up and autocorrect their views about themselves. It takes time, effort, and sometimes even more effort.
Your managers can become great leaders with the right insights in ego and how it is used. Contact Us to learn how we can help.
