Unconscious competence

Leadership is not taught in isolation; context shapes who becomes an effective leader.

- FAY NIEWIADOMSKI, AUTHOR, DECISIONS THAT MATTER

The global spend on leadership development is estimated at over US$370 billion1 per year. And yet, there appears to be a shortage of effective leaders and minimal satisfaction with the ROI2 from these investments. Why is that?

Leadership development takes place in a particular context. Context includes the corporate culture, the structure of the organisation, human relations, the opportunities for growth as well as the beliefs and unwritten rules regarding promotion.

Because context really matters, I would like to explore three key areas before focusing on the learning and development processes:

1.The input, selection of candidates,

2.The learning and development processes,

3. The output of effective leaders.

The input of candidates

Selection matters. Not all humans are born to be leaders; according to Gallup3 only 10 per cent are natural leaders and 20 per cent can learn to become like them. In many of the leadership development programmes I have delivered, it seemed to me that there was room to improve the selection process. No matter how hard we try or how amazing the program is, we will not be able to transform a bird into a fish. It is essential that individuals have the opportunity to benefit from their core strengths, whether they fly or swim.

The learning and development process

This is an adventure of enormous scope. Research, development, innovation, human interaction, and empirical observation are only a few of the critical elements that go into the conceptualisation, design, development and delivery of effective leadership development programs. I will go into more detail later in this piece.

The output of effective leaders