Dan McCarthy’s New Year’s Leadership Development Goals for 2016
For my money, there’s no one who does a better job of writing about leadership development than Dan. He’s spent a career at it. Now he’s the director of Executive Development Programs at the University of New Hampshire. He’s also in charge of the Management & Leadership channel of About.com. Here’s what he said in a post on SmartBrief for Leaders.
“For many of us, making and breaking promises to ourselves for the New Year has become an annual tradition. We say we’re going to lose that 10 pounds, quit smoking, change jobs, read more, be more positive, etc., and start off all Tigger-like with energy and great intentions. Then, when the going gets tough we lose interest, motivation, and momentum and at the end of the year we’re back to where we started. For next year, let’s break that cycle! Let’s set our yearly leadership development goals and put some best practices in place to help us achieve those goals.”
Read the post to get full value. I can’t offer that kind of value. But I have a perspective on how leadership development works today, and how I think it should work.
Less leadership development hand-wringing
Life is tough. OK, I get it. Resources are limited. So has it always been. And the generation coming up today wants too much too fast. I’ve heard that one since I was one of the up and coming generation. That was fifty years ago.
You can spend your time moaning and wringing you hands. You can shake your fist at the sky and curse cruel fate. Or you can get to work to make things better.
Please, in 2016, let’s have less wailing and more positive action.
Less leadership development surveys and studies
We’ve studied this thing to death, but the truth is that we know what has to be done. Find men and women who want to lead and who seem to have the necessary natural gifts. Put them into leadership situations. They will succeed sometimes and fail other times and more often do a little bit of both. Then we help them learn and try again.
So, enough with the studies and the fancy programs. Let’s learn to do the basics really well with unremitting diligence.
Please, in 2016, less thinking and studying and more experiments and prototypes and trials. And, oh yes, more tolerance for honest mistakes and well-intentioned failure.
