Leadership Development and ROI
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Larry Fehd
Larry Fehd is CEO and founder of Human Performance
Strategies, LLC. Please see
bio for professional background and experience.
Contact Information
Phone: 512-415-0748
Email: lfehd@hp-strategies.com
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Have you ever wondered why business section bookshelves are packed
with volumes of the latest theory or technique for leadership development?
How many books, articles, or seminars, among other learning forums,
have you pursued in a quest for improving your own leadership skills
and developing other leaders within your organization? Don't worry,
you are not alone. However, being in the majority doesn't necessarily
mean we fully appreciate the impact of effective leadership on business
performance.
Since leaders are always learning, we depend on and value the many
fine resources available on leadership development. And there is
a lot of compelling research data to substantiate significant returns
on investment for various leadership development initiatives. However,
rather than discuss redundant information, let's change the topic
from "return on investment" to "cost of ineffective
leadership." A review of this subject will likely yield some
very different conclusions. Some common consequences of ineffective
leadership help put its cost into perspective:
- Reduced productivity
- Underutilized human resources
- Wasted time and rework
- Low trust and team morale
- Stifling of innovation and creativity
- Attrition of key talent
- Customer dissatisfaction
- Quality nonconformances
- Unresolved conflicts
- Lack of collaboration
- Etc., etc., etc….
Referring back to the bookshelves image, it's interesting how many
variations and approaches to leadership development exist and yet
the desired result remains the same, i.e. to improve leadership
effectiveness and organizational performance. Business leaders often
tell us that they are sometimes confused and overwhelmed in trying
to identify and select the best approach for leadership development
within their organization. Designing and facilitating a process
like leadership development in a "need it now" world is
a challenging proposition. It's as if we are trying to facilitate
a process but using an event mentality.
Earlier this year, we introduced the concept of the HPS
Mobile Enterprise™ in an article by the same title. When
you think about it, a mobile can be an excellent metaphor representing
a business enterprise. A mobile often contains many parts and each
part is interconnected and interdependent — at least to some
extent — and subject to constant change and external environmental
influences. Since the mobile is constantly changing, exemplary leaders
must be agile and respond quickly and appropriately when necessary.
Exemplary leaders must also fully leverage and effectively deploy
resources to ensure all parts of the mobile are fully optimized.
Exemplary leaders are very deliberate in their actions and take
time to carefully consider how their actions will impact individuals,
teams, the organization, and all other key stakeholders.
Leadership development is a process and not an event. The difference
between average and exemplary leadership is remarkable in terms
of team and organizational performance. In today's limited resources
environment coupled with intense market competition, improving leadership
effectiveness is both an investment and insurance policy, preventing
the negative consequences of ineffective leadership.
In the final analysis when you consider the return on investment
of developing ourselves and others into exemplary leaders, the important
question seems to be whether CEOs, presidents, and other senior
leaders can afford NOT to improve their leadership skills and those
of all other leaders within their organization.
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