Adjusting leadership development plans is the key to real progress

Without extra attention and flexibility, individual leadership development plans will be limited in their impact.

Something magical and exciting happens when an executive leader begins to uncover honest confidential feedback from others. It's a fascinating process to watch it unfold.

Not long ago, I coached a very well respected and successful Senior VP in charge of leading several thousand employees around the globe. As we unpacked the feedback he received from our 360 assessment process, he wasn’t at all surprised at the findings. He'd been aware of his many negative behavior traits for most of his career as a leader.

‘Really? Then why haven’t they changed?’ you may ask.  

The truth is that he and his teams have continued to generate very impressive and successful results, which makes it difficult for leaders to embrace the needed changes to their behavior. However, this leader understood that as his role evolved and expanded, it was beginning to require a shift in his behaviors in order to ensure the high level success he and his people have enjoyed for many years.  

Step one was establishing a clear set of measurable behaviors for him to develop. We then recruited a number of supporters to continue to share observations regularly as he experimented with different approaches while working to develop more effective leadership behaviors.

As our process unfolded, we began to receive helpful nuanced inputs and suggestions. With many people on high alert and highly engaged in finding ways to help him, we discovered the need to shift approaches with different audiences and situations. In certain cultures with various personalities, some of his negative behaviors were actually helpful. In others, not only were they not helpful, they could be devastating. In some of these cases, high quality key contributors were actively disengaging to the point of even considering leaving the company. This is where we had to update our development plans and efforts based on the insights we were gaining. The original plan didn’t apply to all audiences in all situations. Ultimately, this increased awareness and practice allowed him to engage differently in certain situations leading to better outcomes. 

I can recall other situations with different leaders where the upfront focus was established from outsider inputs like a supervisor, board of directors or the interpretation of a 360 assessment. While extremely important, the original priorities are often only part of the equation. With the appropriate time and attention, the coach and leader unpack related elements that will jumpstart the progress on the original objectives. We see this often when the original focus is based on gaining certain skills like better time management and delegation. Nine (9) times out of ten (10), it isn’t a lack of skill or know-how. There is a deeper, more nuanced issue that only shows itself with time, patience and continued attention.

At the conclusion of our executive coaching programs, we conduct a wrap up session to review the progress towards the original goals. The most inspiring sessions are the ones where the supervisor embraces the review of progress on items that weren’t even on the radar at the start of the program.  

Remember that regardless of the upfront work invested in establishing a Leadership Development Plan, it’s the ongoing attention, inputs and exploration that will reveal the key shifts that may be needed. Don’t neglect these signals.  

Be flexible in your approach with the focus on the overall big picture objectives and the results will be great.