Don't Keep The Power of Leadership A Secret

Sharing The Success of Leadership Programs Benefits Everyone

HR and L&D professionals don’t always have the convincing power we wish we could have with the CEO, especially when it comes to investing in learning and development programs. But why is that? The power of leadership is proven, especially with research-backed assessments like the LPI^®: Leadership Practices Inventory^® 360 assessment. Is it because we are keeping leadership a secret? Are our CEOs and C-suite professionals unaware of the power of leadership?

The internal success of leadership programs for both individual participants and the company is often not communicated or the results are not shared externally with other business leaders. If leadership is kept a secret, it stifles the growth of the individual and the achievement of business goals. Keeping the success of leadership programs to ourselves doesn’t do anyone at an organization any good. Inviting others to understand the power of leadership, whether departmental managers or other higher-ups, only helps us better make our case.

Having another person in your corner is always a good thing. If we bring others along and share the leadership business case, those people will understand the value and ROI we work hard to show. More and more people who understand why leadership is beneficial for their department and their coworkers will reinforce the importance to our CEOs and other decision-makers.

Here’s how to keep leadership from being a secret in your organization:

Tell stories: Share leadership opportunities, obstacles, small wins, victories, and failures. Focus on objective results and measures taken or not taken instead of subjective likes or dislikes. It’s just as important to share why something didn’t work as it is to share what did.
Engage the CEO: Enlist senior leaders to share their philosophy of leadership, whether through regular quotes, endorsing leadership development initiatives, or sharing results.
Mine for innovation and outsight: A global study of CEOs found that more most often, innovative ideas came from outside the organization – from customers, business partners, or other business units. Ask others what has worked for them, or what is “missing” in their development process.
Ask others to share: Listen to the stories of those around you and pull their experiences into your rationale. Different leaders will have different experiences, allowing you to speak to a larger variety of benefits.
Do your research: When you find a justification on the ROI for a program that has been implemented or that could be implemented in your organization, share it with your decision-maker and leadership allies. Ask for their input as you build a more compelling case for the program’s ties to business success.