Senior Management

Here’s How You Can Determine ROI of Senior Manager Leadership Development

Okay, so let's start with the hard-core thing – the amount of leadership development courses programs, podcasts, books, articles, and blogs out there, and all the varying advice does not often trace back to results.


And you KNOW that!


If you've attended them, if you've read them, you think, “Oh yeah, I'll do that.” And then, the reality of your role as a leader kicks in and you DON'T do it!


One of the really important parts to consider around senior leadership development and ROI, and its outcomes, is to think about what is needed and to get clear about that.


You need to question yourself, “What knowledge is required to fill the gap?” And, “What integration or implementation looks like in its entirety.”


Now, most leadership development programs or interventions focus on imparting new knowledge. But that knowledge isn't always applicable to what you need – YOU NEED CLARITY!


And it isn't always the knowledge that can be transferred into action.


Why?


Because it's too highbrowed, or it's too hypothetical. Or it's based on theory but is not necessarily based on how you practice or implement leadership that results in better outcomes and a profitable ROI.


When it comes to leadership development and ROI, we have to think about the returns we are looking for. We have to start there and work our way back!


Here are some questions you can ask yourself:


1. What is the return the company is looking for?

2. What is required to create those returns?

3. What is our area of focus?


And trust us, you need to be REALLY clear on that!


Answering these questions will help you understand the developments associated with a particular investment, and the expectations to yield desirable results.


Most of the time, people undertake a leadership development program which, in its entirety, is nothing but a process.


As though leaders, we need to exploit the lowest common denominator.


Well, what does that mean? It is a soft skill that everyone can grasp easily – new knowledge.


The knowledge can be either about themselves. In a generic sense, what type of leader you should be, or about the fundamentals of leadership, sharing the results of a study, or something else along that line.


However, the reality is for you to get results, to have an impact. You need to ensure your leadership development programs deliver on the investment that it sucks out of you, the time you spent. You need to assess the incongruence that happens in your brain when learning something new, and the effort it took.


To put it in a nutshell, your senior leadership development programs should be far more targeted and far more intentional!