“I’m an executive in our company. I don’t need leadership training!” I would venture to guess that the majority of people who are members of a company’s executive team would think, if not actually say, these words. But if we asked those same executives if someone else on their team needed to improve their leadership skills, we’d get an irrefutable “Yes!” I find it interesting that we can look around the table and point fingers at those who demonstrate poor leadership practices at the same time we fail to recognize our own behaviors are far less than leader-like!

The leadership behaviors I am talking about here are not that complicated or difficult to recognize; yet day after day we find it acceptable to micromanage; we observe as our executive team uses email to coach or confront a difficult topic; create a norm of using our position to motivate action; we seem to think that having two people in a room while only one is talking is called dialogue! We see expectations established but don’t provide the resources of training, practice, and time.

Here’s the good news…

Companies are realizing that if they expect their leadership team to perform well, they need the skills to lead now… not ‘someday.’ Executive education remains a top choice for firms eager to keep their organizations afloat or thriving in challenging times. Historically, they might send individual members of their teams to a one-size-fits-all program and hope that people gain the necessary skills to perform better.

These days, however, most successful private companies are seeking executive education that is tailored to their organization. They want something that is specific to them and immediately applicable. They also realize that a team approach to learning yields better results. By training an entire team, they learn as a group and it gives the team an opportunity to talk about things they don’t normally talk about.

Leaders learn in sophisticated ways.

They don’t want to do a lot of games and physical exercises that seemingly waste time or are not immediately applicable. Leaders want to use the knowledge they have and enhance it or build upon experiences. A mixture of discussion and discovery is the key to team leadership development.

Each leadership team is different. Some members of the team are formally trained in their particular discipline, while it is not uncommon in private companies to have employees who have grown up with the company. The important thing…no matter what the team’s background encompasses, building the confidence and skills of company leaders increases productivity. It expands problem-solving skills improves the morale of employees and is ultimately an investment in the future.

Develop your leadership team and do it together.

Everyone learning together creates accountability to one another as well as support for behavior change. It’s developing your people that develop your business.

When was the last time you learned together? Check out our calendar for leadership training! Is it time to look in the mirror?