Active Learning for Leaders
While many leaders have cut their teeth on the job and others have participated in formal leadership development programs, the grooming of future leaders may call for a more purposeful and active learning experience.
Today’s leaders are challenged by increasingly difficult issues in an increasingly complex environment. Globalization, workforce diversity, a renewed emphasis on ethics and a frenetic pace of business are just a few of the issues they’re facing.
In such a climate, neither leaders nor those being groomed for leadership positions have the luxury of waiting to encounter difficult situations before learning how to cope with them. Instead, companies are introducing high-potential employees to high-stakes decision-making through a variety of methods that are one or two steps removed from the school of hard knocks.
A number of opportunities can provide this kind of development. Assessment centers are, of course, particularly effective for developing leaders through role-playing, case studies or computer simulation experiences. In some cases, this includes feedback on videotaped performance (Marcus, 2004).
Another method is what might be called the “school of simulated hard knocks.” Villanova University, for example, developed its Leadership Challenge program as a required component for MBA students. The program combines workshop sessions, exercises and a five-hour simulation in which student teams establish a diamond mine in South Africa while dealing with issues of profitability, public sentiment, shareholder concerns, government regulations, environmental sensitivities and more (Bailey, 2005).
Then there are knowledge-sharing methods that allow leaders to tap into one another’s expertise so they don’t have to learn everything the hard way. “Communities of practice,” for example, can be an effective means of such collaborative learning. Members who have personal familiarity with similar situations can provide a valuable teaching experience.
The U.S. Army’s CompanyCommand.com is an example of a Web site that serves this role. “Conversation is a much more powerful vehicle for learning because it’s demand driven rather than supply driven,” according to members of the Web site’s team. “It creates the possibility for a kind of learning that a database or book can’t begin to match” (“Five Questions About,” 2004).
Another example of collaborative learning is the concept of “turbo groups,” in which a co-worker with more experience serves as the “turbo leader” for four to seven employees. The accelerated work groups meet monthly for several hours, discussing pre-assigned leadership topics for which study guides have been provided in advance. In the form of a corporate pop quiz, and to assure that all are prepared, the leader announces who will facilitate at the beginning of each meeting (Emelo & Francis, 2004).
One of the goals of such development methods is to create leaders who are “agile learners.” According to researchers Robert W. Eichinger and Michael M. Lombardo of Lominger Limited, Inc., learning agility – the ability to learn from experience and sense – is a better predictor of performance than are IQ or personality measures. They used a learning-agility instrument, CHOICES, to examine over 300 managers and found that managers with the highest performance levels have much stronger learning agility than their counterparts who are moderate or low performers. They also found that those with higher scores in learning agility performed better once promoted (Eichinger & Lombardo, 2004).
Learning agility is also a factor when employees face a new situation or a significant change. While most employees revert to solutions used in the past, those who score high in learning agility tend to enjoy new problems, seek out new experiences, learn more from these experiences and build their skill sets (Eichinger & Lombardo, 2004).
In the end, of course, there’s just no substitute for genuine experience. Research from multiple studies shows that executives derive a lot of developmental benefits from being exposed to a broad range of business issues and from getting the kind of individualized feedback and managerial support that allows them to adjust their behaviors as they learn. People need some freedom to learn by doing, even if this includes making some mistakes (Shields, Schroyer & Collins, 2004).
Still, action learning and collaborative learning techniques are likely to play a growing role in leadership training. And if companies are forced to telescope the leadership development process in coming years as a result of demographic changes, the development of high-potential talent through a combination of formal, individualized and active learning experiences may be a winning strategy.
For more information on Lominger’s CHOICES instrument, click here.
For more information on the U.S. Army’s CompanyCommand.com, click here.
For more information on how top companies develop their leaders, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Bailey, Dan. “Leadership Challenge Offers Impactful Approach to Ethics.” Philadelphia Business Journal [http://www.bizjournals.com]. February 21, 2005.
Eichinger, Robert W. and Michael M. Lombardo. “Learning Agility as a Prime Indicator of Potential.” Human Resource Planning, Vol. 27, Issue 4, 2004, pp. 12-15.
Emelo, Randy and Laura Francis. “Turbo Group Training.” T+D, August 2004, pp. 17-19.
“Five Questions About … Peer-to-Peer Leadership Development with CompanyCommand.com.” Harvard Management Update, December 2004, p. 12.
Marcus, Mary. “Preparing High-Potential Staff for the Step Up to Leadership.” Canadian HR Reporter. ProQuest. October 25, 2004, p. 11.
Shields, Joyce, Connie Schroyer and Jim Collins. “Developing Superior Leadership for the Next Generation.” Management Quarterly, Fall 2004, pp. 16-25.
Today’s leaders are challenged by increasingly difficult issues in an increasingly complex environment. Globalization, workforce diversity, a renewed emphasis on ethics and a frenetic pace of business are just a few of the issues they’re facing.
In such a climate, neither leaders nor those being groomed for leadership positions have the luxury of waiting to encounter difficult situations before learning how to cope with them. Instead, companies are introducing high-potential employees to high-stakes decision-making through a variety of methods that are one or two steps removed from the school of hard knocks.
A number of opportunities can provide this kind of development. Assessment centers are, of course, particularly effective for developing leaders through role-playing, case studies or computer simulation experiences. In some cases, this includes feedback on videotaped performance (Marcus, 2004).
Another method is what might be called the “school of simulated hard knocks.” Villanova University, for example, developed its Leadership Challenge program as a required component for MBA students. The program combines workshop sessions, exercises and a five-hour simulation in which student teams establish a diamond mine in South Africa while dealing with issues of profitability, public sentiment, shareholder concerns, government regulations, environmental sensitivities and more (Bailey, 2005).
Then there are knowledge-sharing methods that allow leaders to tap into one another’s expertise so they don’t have to learn everything the hard way. “Communities of practice,” for example, can be an effective means of such collaborative learning. Members who have personal familiarity with similar situations can provide a valuable teaching experience.
The U.S. Army’s CompanyCommand.com is an example of a Web site that serves this role. “Conversation is a much more powerful vehicle for learning because it’s demand driven rather than supply driven,” according to members of the Web site’s team. “It creates the possibility for a kind of learning that a database or book can’t begin to match” (“Five Questions About,” 2004).
Another example of collaborative learning is the concept of “turbo groups,” in which a co-worker with more experience serves as the “turbo leader” for four to seven employees. The accelerated work groups meet monthly for several hours, discussing pre-assigned leadership topics for which study guides have been provided in advance. In the form of a corporate pop quiz, and to assure that all are prepared, the leader announces who will facilitate at the beginning of each meeting (Emelo & Francis, 2004).
One of the goals of such development methods is to create leaders who are “agile learners.” According to researchers Robert W. Eichinger and Michael M. Lombardo of Lominger Limited, Inc., learning agility – the ability to learn from experience and sense – is a better predictor of performance than are IQ or personality measures. They used a learning-agility instrument, CHOICES, to examine over 300 managers and found that managers with the highest performance levels have much stronger learning agility than their counterparts who are moderate or low performers. They also found that those with higher scores in learning agility performed better once promoted (Eichinger & Lombardo, 2004).
Learning agility is also a factor when employees face a new situation or a significant change. While most employees revert to solutions used in the past, those who score high in learning agility tend to enjoy new problems, seek out new experiences, learn more from these experiences and build their skill sets (Eichinger & Lombardo, 2004).
In the end, of course, there’s just no substitute for genuine experience. Research from multiple studies shows that executives derive a lot of developmental benefits from being exposed to a broad range of business issues and from getting the kind of individualized feedback and managerial support that allows them to adjust their behaviors as they learn. People need some freedom to learn by doing, even if this includes making some mistakes (Shields, Schroyer & Collins, 2004).
Still, action learning and collaborative learning techniques are likely to play a growing role in leadership training. And if companies are forced to telescope the leadership development process in coming years as a result of demographic changes, the development of high-potential talent through a combination of formal, individualized and active learning experiences may be a winning strategy.
For more information on Lominger’s CHOICES instrument, click here.
For more information on the U.S. Army’s CompanyCommand.com, click here.
For more information on how top companies develop their leaders, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Bailey, Dan. “Leadership Challenge Offers Impactful Approach to Ethics.” Philadelphia Business Journal [http://www.bizjournals.com]. February 21, 2005.
Eichinger, Robert W. and Michael M. Lombardo. “Learning Agility as a Prime Indicator of Potential.” Human Resource Planning, Vol. 27, Issue 4, 2004, pp. 12-15.
Emelo, Randy and Laura Francis. “Turbo Group Training.” T+D, August 2004, pp. 17-19.
“Five Questions About … Peer-to-Peer Leadership Development with CompanyCommand.com.” Harvard Management Update, December 2004, p. 12.
Marcus, Mary. “Preparing High-Potential Staff for the Step Up to Leadership.” Canadian HR Reporter. ProQuest. October 25, 2004, p. 11.
Shields, Joyce, Connie Schroyer and Jim Collins. “Developing Superior Leadership for the Next Generation.” Management Quarterly, Fall 2004, pp. 16-25.