Most of the articles I read about leadership development pick one component and concentrate on that alone. There are plenty of articles about assessments, and high potentials, and training, for example.
There are very few articles about designing an entire program. That’s why I was excited to read Darleen DeRosa’s post, “Anatomy of a Successful Leadership Development Program.†Here’s the opening of the post.
“Preparing employees to become future leaders requires a significant investment in terms of time and money. In the U.S. alone, corporations shell out upwards of 14 billion dollars annually on leadership development programs. The average spending per employee was approximately $1,500 in 2013, according to the Association for Talent Development. As spending increases, so does the pressure for HR managers and learning managers to prove a return on this investment. So what does a successful leadership development program look like, and how can you ensure it’s paying off? Here are three essential elements to consider as you build yours.”
Thinking about the leadership development program
If you’re thinking about your  program, read the whole article. In the meantime, here are a couple things I like.
Your program should offer a mix of learning opportunities. Some will be “formal†learning, but most won’t. There should be developmental assignments and ways to learn in the workflow.
Use a mix of evaluation methods. For specific knowledge components, you can use tests. For leadership performance, a mix of quantitative measures and qualitative assessment will work well.
Leadership development and leadership
Whatever kind of program you design, organizational leadership needs to do two things to make the program a success. Top leadership should set the example by visibly pursuing their own development. They should be working on becoming better leaders. And top leadership should be visibly involved in the leadership development program.
