Leadership Development 312

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Definition

Leadership developmentbroadly defined as formal and informal trainingand professional development programs designed for all management andexecutive-level employees to assist them in developing the leadership skills

and styles required to deal with a variety of situations.

Source: SHRM HR Glossary of Terms, www.shrm.org

Introduction

Emotional intelligence is twice as important as cognitive abilities inpredicting outstanding employee performance and accounts for more than

85% of star performance of top leaders.1

In todays fast-paced business environment, organizations have high

expectations of their leaders. The ideal leader is flexible, proactive,possesses strategic thinking and analytical skills, is culturally competent andadept at competitive positioning. To attain this level of leadership, theorganization must be committed to leadership development. Thus, to defineleadership competencies, develop leadership models and identify high-potential leaders with the appropriate skills, HR leaders must establish astrong partnership with the Board, CEO and senior management.

Effective Leadership Development

Effective leadership development encompasses four key areas: 1) the speed

required to forward the development of leadership talent; 2) determining themost effective leadership methods; 3) wisely investing money and time forleadership development; and 4) clearly demonstrating the success ofleadership development methods.2

A recent survey of 240 major public and private U.S. companies on effectiveleadership development notes that the 20 top companies have formalleadership programs and 90% have formal leadership competency models. Inaddition, these companies integrate their leadership competencies intoprocesses for selecting, developing and assessing leaders.3

Further, research shows that organizations that approach leadershipdevelopment with a process, such as the recommendations outlined below,are among the most successful and high-performing organizations.4

Assess leader styles and motives and determine their impact onclimate and performance.
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Create customized, competency-driven leadership models to supportthe organizations strategic goals.

Focus on and expand the emotional intelligence of their leadership(e.g., self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, social skills).

Demonstrate a strong commitment to extensive development andcoaching efforts.

Measure and reward both leadership development and performance.

Leadership Development Tools

The following list of leadership tools covers a wide range of training options.

360-degree feedback.

Assessment instruments.

Formal and/or informal mentoring.

Executive coaching.

On-the-job experience (e.g., rotational assignments, action learning).

Off-the-job experience (e.g., community leadership, industryassociations).

Leadership scorecard.

Not all leadership tools are utilized equally. Assessment instruments, forexample, are underutilized as a leadership development tool in domestic aswell as international organizations. As illustrated in Figure 1, a study onglobal leadership reveals that 29% of organizations use assessmentprocesses to screen emerging leaders.5

Figure 1: Use of Assessment Instruments to Screen EmergingLeaders


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Designing a Leadership Development Scorecard

Measuring the effectiveness of leadership development requires theconsideration of different data. Below are seven types of data that addresssatisfaction, application, learning, business impact, return on investment andvarious intangibles related to leadership development.6

1) Indicators [show the scope and volume of leadership development].

2) Level of satisfaction [with leadership development activities andprograms].

3) Learning [acquisition of knowledge and leadership skills].

4) Application of leadership skills [e.g., applying knowledge to variousjob situations].

5) Business impact [e.g., the consequence of applying knowledge andnew skills].

6) Return on investment [comparison of monetary benefits to programcosts].

7) Intangible benefits [business impact measures not converted intomonetary values; e.g., soft dataworking habits, work climate, jobattitudes, initiative].

Data may be obtained through a variety of sources, such as questionnaires,focus groups, observation (e.g., video recording, audio monitoring), 360-degree feedback, participant estimate and testing. A combination of sourcesis suggested.


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Literature and Research

Antecedents and Consequences of Reactions to Developmental 360-DegreeFeedback7

The 360-degree feedback is a developmental tool used to provideinformation regarding leadership behavior. This study explored and identifiedfactors that had an impact on leaders reactions to 360-degree feedback andthe relationship of different feedback reactions relative to developmentactivities and changes in leader behavior. Overall, the study showed thatleaders reactions to feedback were related to the degree of change inratings over time, rather than to the number of follow-up activities reported.For example, the study results suggested that leaders who had low ratingsand agreed with others regarding theses ratings were less motivated thanthose who had low ratings and over-rated themselves. On the other hand,the study results also revealed that motivation was not an influence for those

with high ratings and agreement between themselves and others ratings. Ingeneral, individuals who had more favorable attitudes regarding the use offeedback tended to be more motivated to follow the feedback.

Career Anchors of Managers With Global Careers8

Due to the globalization of the marketplace, it has become more importantto understand the career ladders of global leaders. This qualitative studyprovides new evidence on career anchors of global leaders. The internalcareer approach is now one of the most relevant focuses on career paths.Typically, global leaders have careers that include international assignments.

The study results suggest that most managers career decisions are basedon two or three career anchors, rather than one dominating factor. In thisstudy, the most typical career anchors were pure challenge and managerialcompetence. The studys key conclusion is the importance of the newinternationalism anchor for global leaders: that is, the majority ofrespondents ranked the internationalism anchor as either their major anchoror among a few major anchors.

The Effects of Leader Moral Development on Ethical Climate and EmployeeAttitudes9

This study examined the effect of leader moral development on employeeattitudes and the organizations ethical climate. The survey resultssuggested that the relationship between ethical climate and leader moraldevelopment was affected/moderated by two factors: 1) the age of theorganization; and 2) the extent to which the leader utilized his or hercognitive moral development (i.e., capacity for ethical reasoning). That is,the leaders moral development had a greater influence for those leaderswhose moral actions were consistent with their moral reasoning. Further, the


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influence of the leader moral development was greater in youngerorganizations. As predicted, the connection between the employees moraldevelopment and the leaders moral development was positively associatedwith job satisfaction and organizational commitment and negativelyassociated with turnover intentions.

In Closing

As part of talent management, the literature highlights the importance ofcommitment to effective leadership development by the organization, fromthe CEO and the Board level downward. As with all change efforts, leadershipdevelopment requires thoughtful planning and implementation. Integrationof leadership development with other key processessuch as recruitment,selection, training and succession planningis essential for successfulleadership development.

Online Resources

Center for Creative Leadership: www.ccl.org

Corporate Leadership Council: www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com

Council of Talent Management Executives: www.conference-board.org

Briefly StatedSeries: Executive Coaching: www.shrm.org/briefly

Briefly StatedSeries: Leadership Styles: www.shrm.org/briefly

Briefly StatedSeries: Management: www.shrm.org/briefly

Briefly StatedSeries: Mentoring: www.shrm.org/briefly

Briefly StatedSeries: Performance Management: www.shrm.org/briefly

Endnotes

1Hay Group. (1999). What makes great leaders: Rethinking the route toeffective leadership. Retrieved June 10, 2005, from www.haygroup.com.

2Phillips, J. J., & Schmidt, L. (2004). The leadership scorecard. Burlington, MA:Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

3Hewitt Associates. (2002). How companies grow great leaders. RetrievedJune 13, 2005, from www.hewitt.com.
http://www.ccl.org/http://www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com/http://www.conference-board.org/http://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.hewitt.com/http://www.ccl.org/http://www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com/http://www.conference-board.org/http://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.shrm.org/brieflyhttp://www.hewitt.com/


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4Hay Group. (1999). What makes great leaders: Rethinking the route toeffective leadership. Retrieved June 10, 2005, from www.haygroup.com.

5Collison, J. (2002). Global leadership survey. Alexandria, VA: Society forHuman Resource Management.

6Phillips, J. J., & Schmidt, L. (2004). The leadership scorecard. Burlington, MA:Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

7Atwater, L. E., & Brett, J. F. (2005, June). Antecedents and consequences ofreactions to developmental 360 degree feedback.Journal of VocationalBehavior, 66, 3, 532+.

8Suutari, V., & Taka, M. (2004). Career anchors of managers with globalcareers. The Journal of Management Development, 23, 9, 833+.

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Schminke, M., Ambrose, M. L., & Neubaum, D. O. (2005, July). The effect ofleader moral development on ethical climate and employee attitudes.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 2, 135+.

Also in the Talent Management series:

Part I: Talent ManagementOverview

Part III: Employee Engagement
http://www.shrm.org/research/briefly_published/Talent%20Management%20Series%20Part%20I_%20Talent%20Management%20Overview.asp#TopOfPagehttp://www.shrm.org/research/briefly_published/Talent%20Management%20Series%20Part%20III_%20Employee%20Engagement.asp#TopOfPagerhttp://www.shrm.org/research/briefly_published/Talent%20Management%20Series%20Part%20I_%20Talent%20Management%20Overview.asp#TopOfPagehttp://www.shrm.org/research/briefly_published/Talent%20Management%20Series%20Part%20III_%20Employee%20Engagement.asp#TopOfPager

Leadership Development 312

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