The 5 Most Important Elements To Create Superior Leadership Development Programs

by Thuy Sindell, PhD. and Milo Sindell, MS.
Published on April 8, 2021

We have been in the field of leadership development for a long time and have had the privilege to work with experts - hundreds of amazing leadership experts who help leaders within some of the top companies worldwide take their skills to the next level. Over time, we have observed that 80% of the time of our coaching engagements, the leaders grow and succeed in achieving the goals they set out to accomplish, and the leader’s manager and HR are happy with the results.

10% of the time, the leader fails to reach their coaching goals. This occurs because they were already failing in their role and a coach was brought in as a last effort.

Most importantly, the remaining 10% of the time, something really amazing and powerful happens to the leader as a result of the coaching process – something more than simple skill development or behavior change. Something truly fundamental, powerful, and life changing occurs. And for the companies where this success occurred, something equally profound happens - a leader’s transformation results in remarkable things for the company.

We looked at what made the difference between average success, failure, and incredible results. We realized there were five things that led to what was occurring in the top 10%. We incorporated those shifts into how we work with our clients and they have seen great success and amazing returns on their leadership investment.

The Five Critical Elements To Amazing Leadership Development

1. Think Strategically

A strategic leadership development mindset is the starting point that separates an amazing company from the average company.

• You invest in your leaders because you know it is an investment that is going to provide exponential return.
• You know that great leaders produce better business results, enable great cultures and great places to work, and space for people to find professional fulfillment.
• You see the ripple effect of positive business outcomes from great leadership.

Do you want to have a company of world class leaders? You must first have world class leadership development. You have to believe that great leadership is the foundation for great teams, happy employees, and competition beating business results.

2. Demand Measurable Results and ROI

Investing in your leaders can be expensive. So often we hear that it is hard to measure the impact of leadership development and how great it would be if we could. Well, you can. If you are being told you cannot, they are wrong and doing you a disservice. In fact, in one of our leadership coaching programs, our client was able to measure and assess $432,000 of ROI per leader.

There are only two reasons why you are not measuring the ROI of your leadership investment. You are either not sure what you can measure, or you do not have the ability.

3. Use The Secret Weapon

The S.L.D. Smart Leadership Development Method

Smart data driven leadership development is the most powerful and effective way to consistently realize leadership results from your investment.

When you can measure the leadership development process from start to finish and track each step in between, you are able to ensure your leaders achieve their goals and your company achieves results faster.

The Old Way

• You find a leadership expert from someone you know.
• Each expert has their own way of doing things.
• Maybe goals are set and communicated to you as the HR person.
• The project unfolds without clear accountabilities.
• No way to track and measure the investment.
• No way to track multiple coaching engagements.
• No correlation of leadership development investment to business objectives and ROI.
• Hope that your investment realizes results.
• This is “high risk” leadership development.

Smart Leadership Development is a simple system and technology for developing your leaders, by the best experts, that provides measurable results every time. This process follows the steps of:

1. Expert Match – The best experts vetted and matched to your leaders.
2. Right Goals - Identification of the right goals using smart and precise assessments.
3. Superior Technology - Manage the process and measure results.
4. HR / Leader / Expert Synch
5. Measurable results linked to business metrics.

This is predictable, repeatable, and measurable leadership development.

4. Use a Methodology

Having a methodology is critical piece that allows for the outstanding, sustainable results seen in 90% of our leadership development consulting.

A methodology is a recipe. Without the right methodology your leadership development has no foundation. If you talk to twenty different coaches more than likely you will learn about twenty different methodologies. At Skyline, all of our coaches use the our methodology which is proven to deliver consistent long-term results every time.

So matter what methodology you choose, make sure it will provide consistent results, every time, no matter the coach. The right methodology leads to consistent, scalable, and repeatable results.

5. Invest in Expert Help

Every professional at some point hits a ceiling. What happens next is a choice: Try to break through the ceiling alone or get help. Trying alone can take years, if ever. Top companies invest in their best leaders to get them to where they need to be as fast as possible.

And there is a caveat… In order to get the best results faster, you have to have the right expert. Yet, the world is flooded with experts – over 50,000 leadership experts and growing. Thousands of leadership experts but only a select few who can transform knowledge to results. Don’t invest in just expertise, invest in the right expertise. When you invest in your best leaders with the right experts you can achieve exponential results.

What you need in order to have leadership development that creates great leaders, enables rock star teams, and accelerates business results:

1. Think Strategically
2. Demand Measurable Results and ROI
3. Use The Secret Weapon – Smart Leadership Development
4. Use a Methodology
5. Invest in Expert Help

These 5 elements alone are enough to create a superior leadership program that develops great leaders every time. If your team needs help implementing any of the elements mentioned within this article, we would like to hear from you. Contact us here