Leadership programs
Leadership programs designed for behaviour change.
Organisations rarely invest in leadership programs because they want leaders to know more.
They invest because they want leaders to lead differently.
That's an important distinction.
Because learning creates the possibility of change, it doesn’t guarantee it.
If behaviour change is the goal, leadership programs need to be designed differently.
The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™
An organising principle for designing leadership development around the way behaviour change is most likely to occur.
Rather than focusing solely on helping leaders learn, the Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™considers which sequence of development experiences and support will help leaders do things differently when they return to work.
That shift changes how leadership programs are designed.
Learning remains essential, but it is one step in a broader behaviour change journey.
The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™ organises that journey into five steps. Together, these steps provide a practical way to intentionally design leadership programs around the way behaviour change is most likely to occur:
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Build awareness of current leadership behaviour and motivation for change.
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Introduce new knowledge, skills and leadership perspectives.
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Prepare, experiment with, and rehearse new behaviours.
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Support leaders to apply new behaviours in everyday work.
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Strengthen behaviour through feedback, reflection and ongoing reinforcement.
Two outcomes every program should strive for.
The first is to develop better leaders by intentionally designing the participant journey around the way behaviour change is most likely to occur.
The second is to strengthen the organisation's capacity to develop leaders by intentionally designing the organisational conditions that help new leadership behaviours take hold and endure.
The strongest leadership programs don't choose between these outcomes.
They achieve both.
Leadership Development Blueprint.
Designing for both outcomes from the start.
Every leadership program I design starts with a Leadership Development Blueprint.
The Blueprint intentionally brings together two interconnected organising principles.
The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™ helps design the participant journey around the way behaviour change is most likely to occur.
The LDS Wheel™ helps design conditions that strengthen the organisation’s leadership development system (LDS), enabling new leadership behaviours to take hold and endure.
Together, they ensure every leadership development investment contributes to two outcomes:
Developing better leaders today
Strengthening the organisation's capacity to develop leaders tomorrow.
Building the blueprint.
Every Leadership Development Blueprint is developed through a collaborative design process.
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Key question
What leadership challenge are we really trying to solve?
Together we:
Conduct a desktop review and work with sponsors and key stakeholders to clarify the leadership behaviours that matter most, the organisational context and what success will look like.
Outcome
A shared understanding of the leadership challenge and the outcomes the program needs to achieve.
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Key question
What will help those leadership behaviours emerge and endure?
Together we:
Use the Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™ and the LDS Wheel™ to design both the participant journey and the organisational conditions that will support lasting behaviour change.
Outcome
A Leadership Development Blueprint tailored to your organisation that includes:
Program on a Page: A visual overview of the proposed approach and how the various elements work together.
Participant Journey: A high-level view of how leaders will engage with the proposed program over time, including learning, application and reinforcement touchpoints.
Design Roadmaps: Each element of the program is outlined in sufficient detail to enable its full design once the program is signed off.
Stakeholder Strategy: The role sponsors, line managers, peers and participants will play in supporting success.
Implementation Recommendations: Practical guidance on bringing the program to life.
Success Measures: How progress, behaviour change and organisational impact will be evaluated.
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Key question
How do we bring the Blueprint to life?
Together we:
Design and develop all of the program elements in detail.
Outcome
Everything required to deliver the program with confidence.
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Key question
How will this investment become more valuable?
Together we:
Review feedback, behaviour change and organisational outcomes to continually strengthen both the program and your leadership development system.
Outcome
Leadership development that becomes more valuable with every investment.
Every leadership program should leave something behind.
Leadership programs should do more than change the leaders who participate in them. They should strengthen the organisation that surrounds them.
As your Blueprint is developed, leadership expectations become clearer. Sponsors become more engaged. Line managers are more confident supporting leaders on the job. Shared leadership language begins to emerge. New approaches to reinforcement and evaluation are established.
The program develops better leaders, but it also leaves your organisation better able to continue developing them long after it has finished.
That's how the organisation’s capacity for leadership development grows.
Let’s work out what will create the greatest impact
If you're designing a new leadership program, refreshing an existing one or simply exploring where to invest next, I'd love to hear what you're trying to achieve.
Together, we'll work out what will create the greatest impact for your leaders and your organisation.