Even though most agree that leadership training is essential, it still seems to be an after thought more than it is a part of our retention strategy. I think the biggest culprits are our day-to-day "busy-ness" and the fact that many people are promoted to manager because a seat at the table has opened up and needs to be filled.
One Apricot or Two
There is a story of an army cook who received a huge order of apricots and, not wanting them to go to waste, he had to get the soldiers to eat them quickly. The apricots sat in a huge pile at the end of the food line for a few days but hardly anyone took them. Efforts were then made to improve this and so the cook had one of the junior chefs stand at the serving line and ask, "Would you like an apricot?" This only slightly improved the situation. Finally, it was one server's idea at the next meal to stand in the line with the apricots and ask the question "Would you like one apricot or two?" This solved the problem of the apricots.
I was sitting with a group of senior managers who asked me a question about leadership training. They wanted to know how to get their front-line managers to engage in on-going learning. They said some employees were great at taking courses while many others were not interested at all. It turns out that they were too busy. This is something I hear a lot and the solution requires some creativity. The reality is that we all need to continually improve our leadership skills but we are also all faced with time constraints. In our effort to train our leaders we do not want to burden them with more "stuff" so what do we do?
For this group of senior managers I suggested something like the apricot story. Leadership training needs to be a standard but there needs to be a broad spectrum of choices. I suggested they create a tiered system. It goes like this. Every manager is required to continually improve their leadership skills but they have a choice of how intensive they want that to be. Track 1 is for those with extra time who want to pursue additional education outside of work. Track 2 is for those who do not have time for night classes but want to attend various seminars, or complete online classes etc. Track 3 is for those who, at the very minimum, will commit to reading a book on leadership in the next quarter.
Setting up a tiered system like this promotes learning without the pressure. For some people who have insanely busy lives, this still holds them to ongoing improvement but in a very considerate way. For those who have the time and want to get involved in more intensive forms of training, it gives them the option of doing so. In the end, the question is not whether or not you are going to learn more about leadership but, rather, which track are you going to place yourself on as you continue your education in leadership.
Using a system like this can also help you allocate money for each track. Track 1 contains your big-ticket items such as tuition, whereas track 3 is relatively inexpensive; a little money goes a long way in terms of number of people trained. You can also create a culture of leadership excellence by applying this three-track system to the entire company. This way, even your newest employees are going to, at the very least, read a book on leadership, which will help them in the event they are promoted to manager. Raising the expectation that everyone must continually develop, but also providing multiple options on how this can be done, will go a long way in developing both the skills and good will of your employees.
James Robbins is a leadership trainer helping organizations build workplaces of full engagement and low turnover. His keynotes and workshops inspire and equip managers to face today's leadership demands. To find out more go to www.ontothesummit.com
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