How to evaluate a leadership initiative
What’s the difference between a good initiative and spectacular one?
Many times we face promises and want to believe that one approach can really change the status quo and our leaders will create the next impressive projects that can project the organization to a new path.
So marginal results, short term, will get some sense of advance, however leaders who can impact their teams and get a higher level of energy increasing performance, encouraging innovation and non-linear thinking, will empower and drive the transformation, contributing in fact to a culture shift.
Traditionally the one angle approach is considered sending leaders to expensive leadership programs, that can give them a perspective more on their own image, some may also receive the privilege to work with an executive coach for a while to integrate some items present on their assessments, all in all making them somehow equipped for the current role.
Now if we look from the long-term perspective, this can cover probably a limited scope, teams, peers or even top-management is not enrolled in a major common effort so the results will not have the spectacular effect on the bottom line.
One of the major challenges is that speed of learning and integration is always smaller than the environment change, so any small or without scale project will fail.
Recently I was invited to discuss with a development team about a potential initiative, one of the examples was like this, some years ago a small initiative at a lower level, did not create the desired impact and engaged a limited number of leaders who wanted to get coaching sessions.
Another significant challenge can be into trying to accommodate more work with higher quality in execution and less costs, it makes the climate almost hard to survive and be happy as a team member.
Coming back to possible ways to tackle those challenges, it seems that working with more leaders and having dashboards to measure and track down their behaviors in parallel with the conversations in their teams can impact a higher number of people and ensure a smooth transition to a different culture stage.
This process has deep roots in executive coaching combined with leadership conversations that can determine a new level of excitement, because leaders will base their efforts on the teamwork and build new relations.
This can create the premises for events at team’s level in which the facilitators come more as part of the new team and participate in their discovery journey.
We introduced also strategic methods based on advanced imagery systems, inviting participants to design new processes and look for opportunities in a fun and rewarding way.
Another crucial element is time for the entire process, any initiative with 6-8 members, can be expected to produce results in 6-9 months the first layer, and perhaps another 6 months for the team shifts, so we can expect 1,5 years as a final measuring point with a cultural shift which will be permanent.
There are many items to be designed along: dashboard, stakeholders, coaching model, power tools, conversation templates, so the outcome is documented, always measured and will stay in the organization being integrated in the new culture.
Another element for evaluation is the capacity of any program to transfer skills and create the trust and collaboration desired in teams, leaders who will receive executive coaching and contribute to the cultural shift that will create a legacy for others who want to embark in the future.
Ambitious organizations take the leap of faith and invest in their future NOW.