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Investing in Leadership Development

For large sums of money, there is no shortage of one and two day courses available to teach a particular aspect of management. The manager goes to the training course, drinks a lot of coffee, gets a nice shiny workbook, and hopefully applies at least a little of what was taught. The training appears on the ledger as an expense, just like office supplies and utilities.

It shouldn’t be that way. True leadership development is not an expense! It is an investment: an investment in the company’s future. As with any investment, careful consideration should be given to the return – and leadership development can provide an incredible return.

To understand the return on this investment, consider what not developing leaders is costing. The effects of leadership, whether good or bad, are seen throughout the company. Often these effects are passed off as just unmotivated employees or bad economic conditions. In fact, quite often problems from decreased productivity to low morale, to high turnover can be traced to supervisors and managers who don’t understand how to lead people.

A leadership development program addresses these issues by giving managers and supervisors the knowledge and tools they need to be effective leaders. It isn’t just a hodge-podge of workshops that happen to be available, but a carefully orchestrated program of progressive training, tailored to the company’s specific needs and part of the company’s culture. The program includes follow-up and continual mentoring and coaching, critical to turning training into real development.

Take another look at your company. Are you investing in leadership development, and reaping the great return on that investment, or is leadership training just another expense?

For a more extensive look at leadership development, download a free white paper, “Questions and Answers About Leadership Development.”