Finally, a Leadership Development Program That Doesn't Make You Cringe
“It’s not like other leadership programs.” I tried not to roll my eyes or think, “Cringe.”
Because, like many, I’d sat through mandatory HR trainings—some in-person, others virtual—you know, the ones where you can’t open another tab and have to answer multiple-choice questions at the end of each section... *audible groans.*
Don’t ask me what lessons or actionable advice I remember.
Because I approached these leadership trainings as:
“I have to do this as fast as possible so that I can get back to my REAL job and not get an HR slap or have an uncomfortable chat with my manager.”
Agony. Frustration. Boredom.
Jokes at the expense of dated video tutorials rampant with chronic overreacting.
These so-called leadership trainings left me and others with lingering dread. Like you, I already had a long list of to-dos. Not only had I learned little to anything of value, but the trainings never came up again.
Their lessons were not applied to improve my work, relationships, or career.
When I found myself enrolled in The Foundation for Effective Leadership class, I wondered:
“Is this going to be a deja vu of my previous brushes with leadership?”
My Foundation for Effective Leadership Experience
Rather than tell you this leadership program was life-altering or so amazing, I’m going to show you how Brian Alvo’s leadership training helps you become a more mindful, equipped, and effective leader.
Intro to Leadership
On August 25, I found myself on Zoom with 12 participants and leadership development coach Brian Alvo. Rather than lecture us on what makes a good leader, he kicked things off with mindfulness. To help us get into a reflective space, encouraging us to control our breathing, stretch, or do what we needed to get there.
For me, that meant spitting my gum out and silencing notifications.
(My Slack tends to blow up).
Once in a calm and effective state, Brian asked us to flip to page 7 of our binders.
At first, I thought, “Oh, wow, paper. Analog.”
But even though I spend the majority of my day clacking away at keys or thumb-scrolling on my phone, there’s something unexpectedly refreshing about jotting your thoughts down.
It made me slow down. Be more intentional about the words I chose.
For one thing, it’s encouraged me to pick up a pen more often. Improve my chicken scratch scrawl.
What makes an effective leader?
Next, Brian asked us, “What makes for effective leadership?”
He said, “Reflect on people who you think are effective leaders. What do they do? Choose one of these people, and what do they do that makes them effective in your view?”
I had never directly thought about the qualities of the leaders I admired. I just liked them without much thought as to why.
For this exercise, I chose Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia.
What I wrote about his leadership qualities:
Authenticity
Passion
Commitment to Community
Leading by Example
Innovation
Bucking the Norm
Resilience
From that list, we were asked to narrow it down to four.
Examples of Core Values
Commitment to Community
Leading by Example
Resilience
Passion
Next, each participant added their four qualities to a Jamboard (Miro or MindMeister could work equally well, especially now that Google’s sunsetting this product).
Brian then asked us, “What do you notice?”
What is an effective leader?
After getting our digital sticky notes on the Jamboard, we shared our observations on what effective leaders had in common. Such as:
Communication
Passion
Honesty - the number one quality that people look for in their leaders.
Authenticity - bringing their full selves to work, to bring out the best in themselves and others.
Compassion/Empathy - to understand people’s backgrounds to understand where their perspectives are coming from. What’s “normal” to one person may not be different to another.
Servant Leadership - leading by serving, making sure the needs of your employees are met.
Confidence - if you appear confident, it can come across as cocky, but confidence can manifest as being able to make critical decisions and prioritize certain things over others; people want to follow people they look about to, not those who embody self-doubt.
After going through the qualities, Brian asked us:
How many of you thought about someone in your personal life?
Someone at work?
Or, someone you read about or saw in the news?
A historical figure?
“The way you derive those qualities is probably from your own experience, your own thinking, your own touch points, but people you see as effective leaders seem pretty personal to you all.”
Next, we started to unpack those themes and what those words actually mean.
Brian went on to say that we didn’t need to be uniquely qualified to achieve them. For example, exhibit more compassion or honesty while competence could be built over time and vision through practice.
One of the big takeaways from the exercise was that we don’t need to have a title or a role to
exhibit these qualities. And that we can reflect these qualities in any aspect of your life.
Brian encouraged us to practice and think about these qualities as much in our personal lives as in our professional lives.
Leadership is Personal
Leadership applies to everyone.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - US President, John Quincy Adams
What I discovered: there are many frameworks and models of leadership.
There's not just one. There is no right one.
It's just understanding what's out there and choosing one that best fits your goals—your company's goals, your team's goals.
In my next post, I’ll share my experience about learning about the Six Domains of Leadership—a heavily researched academic topic.
Trust—or what my group called Honesty—is a keystone in the Six Domains of Leadership.
But Trust is more encompassing Honesty because it’s more than telling the truth—it’s having faith in others.
To learn more about the Foundation for Effective Leadership Program, go here.