Leadership

We all know them…the experts in each function who have advanced levels of knowledge and skills who are the “go to” people when questions about products or processes need answers. However, these people do not always have the personality or ability to be strong leaders of other people.  We don’t want to overlook this kind of expertise as functional knowledge and skills are critical for business success. We want to grow and leverage that expertise in such a way as to benefit the company on as large a scale as possible. In fact, some companies are applying strategies ... Watch Video »

Senior Leader engagement is one of the key drivers of High Potential development.  To ensure the highest quality HiPo experience, the Leadership Development Group at Microsoft has adopted a philosophy of “Leaders Building Leaders.”  While some organizations successfully leverage their leaders as instructors, that model was limited for Microsoft’s dynamic and fast-paced business environment. Microsoft’s Leadership Development Group has innovated in & out of the classroom to increase senior leader engagement and differentiate the HiPo experience for its 3,700 HiPo’s at various levels of seniority.  At this Leadership Development Executive Council meeting, attendees learned tactics and what ... Watch Video »

At Ingersoll Rand, corporate executives have been gathering every year at their global leadership meeting for several years now. This group of company leaders gets together in person from all over the world to discuss strategy, plans, budget, etc.  It has been a productive process, but could be so much more. In this Leadership Development Executive Council session, we learned how Lisa Gary and her team at Ingersoll Rand recently changed this gathering from a typical executive meeting to a dynamic learning event for everyone involved.  Specifically, we learned… How they proposed the idea for this significant change and got ... Watch Video »

It’s true. Our current leadership development methods have a reductionist approach and 20th Century industrialism stamped all over them. However, if our organizations are to be sustainable in a competitive, global economy, our leaders must break free of the chains of tradition. In this Leadership Development Executive Council session, we contemplated the future of leadership development, including elements such as: Target: Organization capability (vs. personal skills) Focus: Learning as a problem-solving method  Accelerators: Debate, synthesis, experimentation, monitored practice Environment: Opportunities to explore and do something original Practice: Adapting principles and theories to local context, and begin again when first ... Watch Video »

During this session, Ling Sian Tan from Capgemini explained the company’s Next Generation Learning (NGL) philosophy and how they have applied the NGL attitudes and principles to the design of their VP orientation program. See how one of the NGL attitudes – “Connect to Learn” – is driving the success of collaborative learning. She also reviewed fundamental principles that support the corporate attitude of “Connect to Learn”: Use the power of teams in connections Bring experience to create and co-create Connect with many in many ways Watch Video »

  "Knowledge is always in terms of concepts and can be passed on by means of words or other symbols. Understanding is not conceptual, and therefore cannot be passed on. It is an immediate experience, and immediate experience can only be talked about (very inadequately), never shared." --Aldous Huxley, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (1956)   Owens & Minor, Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, has been an industry leader in healthcare since 1882. When Owens & Minor University (OMU) added customer education as part of its mission in 2006, an opportunity presented itself to support professional development in nurses as ... Read More »

Overview AT&T is, by revenue, the largest communications holding company in the world. The company has had to make many changes over the years, reflecting advances in technology and communications, government policies regulating the telecommunications industry, mergers and acquisitions, and the rise of the global economy. The company's most recent merger occurred in 2006 between AT&T and BellSouth and the consolidated ownership of Cingular Wireless and YP.COM. The promise of that merger was that the integration of products, capabilities, networks, and operations into something the senior executives called One AT&T, which would deliver a unique ... Read More »

In order to ensure that your leadership pipeline is filled with the right number of the right people at the right time, efforts must start with effective high potential identification and development. During this month’s meeting, we heard about the approaches that Microsoft, Austin Industries and Lockheed Martin take for their high potential identification and development.  Watch Video »

In an effort to improve performance and growth, a few companies are starting to formalize their Leadership Brand. In this LaTI session, Sue Todd and Lynn Lehman shared the concepts behind CorpU’s Learning Brand assessment and how they can apply directly to a company’s Leadership Brand. During this meeting, we: Learned about the importance of Brand Promise, Brand Experience, and Brand Marketing. Heard from members regarding their thoughts and efforts around Leadership Brand. Watch Video »

At this month's Leaders as Teachers Institute meeting, Sue Todd led a brainstorming session focused on identifying LaTI member leadership development goals, needs, and preferences regarding the direction of the Leaders as Teachers Institute activities and products in 2012. During this informal, idea-sharing session, we: Heard from all members regarding their 2012 leadership development initiatives in a round-robin fashion. Discussed the concept of accelerated leadership development and how it can be worked into the LaTI 2012 agenda. Made decisions on how the Leaders as Teachers Institute can best support its members in 2012. Watch Video »

Over the past decade, several key studies have noted that organizations that invest in leadership development perform better than those that don’t. Yet, despite the correlation between investing in leadership development and improving financial performance, the theory and practice of what works to develop leaders and leadership is hotly contested by academics and practitioners alike. This in-brief research report distills seventy-five years of theory and practice in order to offer learning professionals broad perspective and some insight into the relationship between effective leadership development and its impact on attracting and retaining talent as well as improving organizational performance and agility. The article is organized around a series of questions: What is “Leadership”? Where are the Leaders in an Organization? What is Leadership Development? Why is Leadership Development Important to Strategic Learning Functions? Why is Leadership Development Hard? How Do We Build, Measure and Sustain Effective Leadership Development? Is Leader and Leadership Development Different in a Global Context? How has Leadership Development Changed Over the Years? Why Do So Many Leadership Development Programs Underperform? The article includes a three-page bibliography for further reading as well.   Read More »

The Reinvention of Leadership Development in A “Networked Organization.” The networked organization represents a significant shift in the way modern organizations translate strategy into structure relative to organization models that have existed since the 1930s. Companies are undergoing a fundamental change in both the assumptions that determine how they compete and, subsequently, the requirements of what it takes to lead. It's more than merely adjusting leadership competency models to define and develop individual and organizational capabilities in leadership. In our Institute Executive Council meeting, we have invited Brian Powers to share some of his research and findings in this ... Watch Video »