Leadership is an Ongoing Process

The traditional format for many leadership development efforts revolves around an event; a retreat, a 2 day workshop, an “offsite”. This aligns with a notion that leadership is something we step outside of our routine to focus on and improve. These events can be very inspiring and so the tradition continues. What this misses however is the fundamental need to address one’s leadership capacity on an ongoing continuous way.

Our capacity to lead develops over time as we encounter different opportunities. If those opportunities are limited to the events, as compelling as they are, we limit the capacity to be part of this ongoing process. To maximize the inspiring spark events provide, we need to shift our thinking to how we can best keep that spark alive. How can we reignite it throughout the day-to-day experience?

One way to support this is to create supportive connections between leaders that enable them to review and acknowledge the ongoing leadership opportunities and learning. We learn most frequently from those we work most closely with. The organization that supports that learning will reap the benefit of having more leaders available to help move them forward.

Learning communities are a simple way to leverage the learning potential among peers. They enable organizations to create the ongoing focus required to help cultivate leaders at all levels.  They also generate data that provides the organization with invaluable information about the rewards of their leadership development efforts and the bench strength they have for the future.