How To Develop Leaders
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Today, there has been a movement toward viewing leadership development not only in terms of attributes and skills, but in terms of identified competencies that are closely related to leadership.
In many organizations, leadership competencies have even become the core dimension of leadership development activities. This has resulted in the definition of a host of competencies that are well defined. This trend has also given root to formal programs such as masters in organizational leadership programs at several leading universities.
Competencies
A 2004 study found that leading-edge companies define leadership by a set of competencies. These principles are not utilized as a guide to leadership development at all levels. By the same token, numerous organizations have, individually, identified qualities and characteristics of successful leaders that fit their organizational structure. The question then becomes: How can competencies be used most effectively to develop leaders?
Strategies and business models
In the recent past, leadership development programs that were put into action had not been successful in effecting positive changes. This caused a change in perspective among designers of leadership programs. Organizations began to develop leaders and leadership competencies that matched and were specific to their particular business culture and model. Leadership competencies were often designed to be in correspondence with the best practices that had been identified for a particular organization.
To further complicate matters, leadership development programs often had to be tailored to the needs of an individual. Because all leaders do not have all the leadership qualities expressed int eh leadership model to the same degree. Each person has their own unique strengths and weaknesses as related to leadership.
Some leadership models simply state that leaders should not be accountable for their particular set of competencies, rather, they are to be held responsible only for the desired outcomes. This is the leadership development model that is in vogue today. You can learn more about this model if you purse a masters degree in organizational leadership.
This type of model goes far beyond specific individual competencies. Competencies tend to focus on what characteristics an individual needs to alter rather than on the individual as a whole.
In addition, focus is also placed on people's strengths and natural abilities, and not just on competencies that can sometimes border on the eccentric. The current view of leadership development is that a leader is best developed by leveraging his or her innate strengths and minimizing the effect of weaknesses.
Health and leadership
Well-being and individual health at work are also brought out as issues of growing interest and attention, including their relevance to leadership. On question to consider is the ongoing stress of continual change and competition at work.Managing the integration of work related stress and personal life to avoid individual meltdown are also becoming critical factors to integrate in a leadership development program. On recognized factor is that a leader who stays physically fit, but incorporating an exercise routine into their daily life, is usually more effective in the long run.
Work and personal life
Another challenge for leadership development that steers away from standard competencies is the competing demands of career and personal life. It was also recognized that an individual's personal and business lives are not mutually exclusive, with each having a dramatic impact on the other.
Currently, there is a need to understand which factors about organizational life are challenged by the concept of work and personal life integration. There is also a need to identify those organizational changes that will be more conducive to the successful integration of work with an individual's personal life.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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