Leadership is the most commonly used word when we talk about development in organizations. It is closely followed by change and culture 😃.

But what are we really talking about, what do companies that are committed to leadership development look for, what practices or experiences help us to make things really happen? Here is my vision, based both on my personal experience in various People positions, as well as on my experience in Ready for People now almost 6 years ago. 

Today many organizations, and not only the largest ones, are deciding to invest in leadership development. From the outset, this seems to me to be a very positive indicator of the change of mindset in the world of organizations. In my experience, the main reasons why a company decides to invest time and resources in this intangible asset are these. One or more of them can be given at the same time: 

• There are conflicts, miscommunication and disagreements in the teams and/or between the different areas that end up affecting the result, whether product or service.
• There is a lack of motivation and a great deal of resistance to change in the face of new initiatives. 
• There is a lot of stress and fatigue in the organization and projects are not moving forward.
• A lot of passivity and little initiative is perceived in the teams. The aim is to bring out more proactive attitudes, open to change and innovation. Empowering people so that the teams are more autonomous and more agile in decision making.
• The results of the so-called engagement survey, employee satisfaction or work climate survey have gone wrong.
• New managers starting out in people management need guidance and help. 

These symptoms are sometimes the tip of the iceberg of deeper issues affecting the organization, not only related to leadership, but almost certainly also having to do with the leadership displayed. 

It must be said that there are also companies that are committed to the non-stop development of their leaders without waiting for any of the situations mentioned above to reach harmful extremes. However, in general, there is always something that tightens the shoe. 

But, although the intention is always very good, not always when a leadership development project is launched does it come to fruition. In case it helps, I would like to share 10 common mistakes I have seen in organizations when implementing these projects:

1. Many companies remain in the definition, they do not act. Defining what you need, that is, how we would like to be the leader in our organization is not enough, we must take action! Start by doing something, even if it is not perfect, and keep iterating and evolving. It is not enough to wait for a perfect and exhaustive plan to start.
2. Not involving the users (managers) in defining what we want to achieve and the gap we have. The best recipe for designing the leadership development plan is to co-create it directly with the "users" or with a good sample of the group. This will help to make the actions relevant to them and adapted to the context, and at the same time to make them feel part of the initiative. It can be co-created with design tools or simply with a good product canvas. 
3. Basing everything on models and concepts. We need practical tools that can be applied on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, if there is no experience, development does not take off. Theory alone is not enough. The best thing is an experiential program, which goes through emotion and makes the topics live in first person, which will make them penetrate and be relevant for the participants. To change mindsets and behaviors you have to go through the experience. 
4. Not being consistent. Senior managers must lead by example in a way that is consistent with what is being asked of the rest of the organization. Culture is what happens every day, not what we put on paper. In this sense, recognizing behaviors that are aligned with the leadership we want helps us reinforce the model. 
5. Leadership is not just for people managers. More and more we apply the concept of extended leadership in organizations. Leadership does not only apply to those who report directly to people, but there are many ways to lead, for example leading projects and ultimately everyone in the organization should work on our (self) leadership. 
6. Do not include self-leadership in development programs. Knowing and managing ourselves and understanding our style and preferences is the foundation. Also knowing our team's preferences is key. The key is "treat others how they would like to be treated and not how you like to be treated". 
7. Thinking that a leadership project includes only training. There are many other tools to develop leadership in an organization that complement each other: mentoring programs (where mentor and mentee develop), individual coaching, buddy program, peer coaching, co-development circles, activating transversal project teams, thematic commissions, a series of conferences and inspirational pills, feedback and feedforward programs,...
8. The basis of effective leadership is self-care. A leader who knows how to take care of and manage himself and knows himself well has a good base to deploy the rest. The top leaders I know manage themselves very well and know that taking care of oneself is essential to be able to take care of others. 
9. Development is a process and does not happen in a day or a month. It is important to consider this so as not to have too high expectations of seeing changes too quickly. It is also important to work on leadership development on an ongoing basis and not just for 'first time managers' or 'new managers'.
10. Forget about follow-up. To ensure that the changes are consolidated, it is necessary to provide spaces for leaders to continue working as #developmentnonstop. In this sense, for example, co-development circles are a very good tool to share experiences among managers and enhance collective intelligence. 

It is clear that all this is not at all easy. As always, we realize that People are not an exact science. But what I have been able to prove over the years is that organizations that consistently focus on developing a strong leadership culture consistent with their values are always ahead of the rest. 

SILVIA FRADERA

Founder & CEO Ready for People