Implementing the Leader Development That Counts

Abstract

Effective leader development is too often the first casualty of high demands placed on leaders, from corporate America to the U.S. military. These entities’ leader development programs and workforce feedback reveals insufficient strategies and competing priorities. Organizations succumbing to these obstacles unknowingly find themselves trapped in adverse cycles of leadership development, perpetuating undernourished talent and mediocre performance. This problem will not fix itself. Organizations must refocus efforts to understand and implement a leader driven, interpersonally focused, and culturally ingrained brand of leader development to maximize available talent and craft their envisioned organization. Introduction: The Team’s First Casualty Is Usually Leader Development Competing demands on organizational leaders are absolutely destructive to talent development. These demands overload and derail even our best over time. The disruptive effect is similar to the freefall experience of U.S. military airborne operations. Upon exiting the aircraft traveling at 130 knots, the jumper freefalls six seconds as the main parachute deploys. In this turbulent stage there is complete sensory overload. The only appropriate action is inherently individual and short sighted—to keep a tight body position until the shock passes. Similarly, today’s leaders are consumed with day-to-day operations, reports, mergers, and reviews. Just like the jumper, leaders must prioritize the immediate, and not the surrounding talent. As the parachute fills with air, now seconds from impact, the jumper can at last gain awareness of the sky and ground. Overwhelmed with priorities, leader and jumper alike are likely to find themselves in unexpected or unwanted territory, drifting toward hazards. At this point, it is too late for major course correction. The team’s underdeveloped leaders cannot adequately deliver in these conditions. Still short on fully actualized talent and long on competing tasks, leaders trapped in this adverse cycle must again reassume a tight body position. Effective leader development is the casualty once more. It is in this moment leaders realize their team is not making the leaders they want and need for their organization. Defining the Problem: The Adverse Leader Development Cycle Leadership development is lacking in both the military and civilian sectors. The Center of Army Leadership Annual Survey of Army Leadership (CASAL) examined the quality of leader RYAN ORSINI U.S. ARMY INFANTRY OFFICER