I love the Internet! One of the best things for me is the ability to find long-lost friends. We all have certain teachers who made a difference in our lives. For me it was my 9th Grade Social Studies and Home Room Teacher, Rod Buchen.
Rod was a young teacher when I was a High School Freshman. That’s what made him so cool! But he left teaching shortly after that and I had not spoken to him in more than 35 years. I knew he had entered the business world and that his father was very accomplished and somewhat famous. Rod’s Dad, Phillip Buchen was President’s Ford’s Law Partner in Michigan and became White House Counsel when Ford became the President.
Last December, I was trying to re-connect with some of my Neenah, WI friends and decided to look for Rod. Between Google, Wikipedia and Linkedin, I found him in about 20 minutes. It was awesome. Since then, we’ve been talking about our respective careers and I was amazed at the similarities. Rod left teaching for the corporate world and ended up as an HR executive with some very large organizations including Xerox. After leaving LARGE corporate America behind, he’s been working as a mentor, executive coach, and advisor. Like me, Rod believes in not just getting the right people on the bus, but getting them aligned and on-boarded quickly and effectively.
I was discussing with Rod my role as a TEC Chair, and how important I think it is to develop leaders in the organization—usually from the top down. This month’s Fortune article about Steve Jobs and Apple is an excellent example.
So in the course of our conversations, Rod has offered to write my blog this month! Talk about role-reversal! I was the one that used to have to write for him. But I like his message and I think you will like it too. I give Rod an A+ for this month’s blog about leadership development.
Leader-Led Development Summary
Rod Buchen, The Buchen Group
An Overview of Benefits and Best Practices
(Summarized from Corporate Executive Board Senior Leadership Development Roundtable)
I. Definition of Leader-Led Development (LLD):
“An ongoing and dynamic series of job-related interactions between a Senior Leader and a Leadership Development Participant designed to improve the Development Participant’s performance and increase readiness for future leadership roles.”
II. Why LLD Makes Good Business Sense:
Senior Leaders who are very effective at Rising Leader (Participant) development can boost the performance of their Direct Reports by as much as 27%.
These same Effective Senior Leaders demonstrate 33% higher competence in strategic thinking than Senior Leaders who are very ineffective at developing Leadership Development Participants.
Effective Senior Leaders are also twice as likely to exceed their financial goals as others.
Of seventeen organizations surveyed, the top LLD company out-performed the lowest LLD company by a factor of four!
III. Factors that Drive LLD Success:
The relationship between Senior Leader and Leadership Development Participant (tone: positive or negative; open or guarded; friendly or more formal)
How the Senior Leader is perceived throughout the organization (personal reputation and credibility; management style; vision and business management skills; and leadership abilities)
The Senior Leader’s personal receptivity to being developed or “coachability (openness to new ideas and suggestions; approachable to informal feedback; willing to admit need for personal improvement)
Note: Research shows that “coachability” drives “coaching ability”
The Leadership Development Participant’s receptivity to, and enthusiasm for, being developed by their Senior Leader (clearly signals openness to new ideas and suggestions; is aware of limiting beliefs and behaviors; actively seeks out feedback and constructive criticism; follows through on development goals; successfully applies new learnings)
The company’s ability to guide and support all those involved in an LLD program (giving Senior Leaders and Development Participants the knowledge, skills, tools and coaching support needed to raise their competencies and sustain new desired behaviors)
IV. Five Essential Roles for Senior Leaders Who Are Very Effective at Developing Leadership Development Participants:
1. The Performance Advisor: Effective Senior Leaders provide less instruction and provide more advice that helps Leadership Development Participants find answers themselves by asking, not telling, and building on the Development Participant’s strengths that drive performance, not correcting weaknesses. Effective Senior Leaders serve as a sounding board for difficult challenges and provide feedback on limiting beliefs and behaviors.
2. The Relationship Advisor: Effective Senior Leaders help Development Participants build critical relationships, expand their personal network and provide insights into navigating the internal political landscape.
3. The Experience Advisor: Effective Senior Leaders create clear connections between developmental assignments and career advancement; they share stories of their personal experiences; they place Development Participants in situations that push their comfort zone and provide new learning opportunities in areas needed to advance.
4. The Experience Optimizer: Effective Senior Leaders open discussions that help the Development Participants maximize their learning from new experiences, taking them from action to reflection to new application; they provide opportunities for Development Participants to safely practice new skills and new leadership approaches, while providing real-time feedback.
5. The Career Champion: The best Senior Leaders act as visible, active champions for their Development Participants so that others see their long-term potential.
Rod Buchen can be reached at: The Buchen Group, 813-765-7800
