Leadership Development Requires RIGOR!

It is a common misperception to think leaders are born. Individuals who exude self-confidence are usually good communicators and comfortable being center stage, so they are often viewed as having a natural aptitude for leadership roles. Unfortunately, natural talent will only take you so far.

The reality is that most leaders are developed through training in behavioral skill acquisition and skill applications. This requires awareness, discipline, and practice—what we call Leadership Rigor! While many executives attempt to “wing it” with their approach to leadership, it’s important to understand that leadership is a skilled profession involving conscious choices.

Leadership Can Be Learned!

• Like medicine, law, technology or business, leadership has its own language, models and tools that can be applied at a high level of competency with discipline and practice. Unfortunately, there is no quick or easy process for becoming a leader. You must be willing to do the work and invest the time and effort.

• Leadership skills are behavioral and require time to build. Most great leaders will tell you they wish they had started learning about leadership skills earlier in their careers. This is also why many leaders are now passionate advocates for bringing structured leadership development into their organizations.

• The first step on your development journey is learning to lead yourself, and while this may sound simple, it will be one of the most significant challenges you will ever take on.

In most professions, as you advance in your career, the skills required to operate at a higher level of competency escalate. The same is true with leadership. So, let’s look at one of the foundational skills you will need to advance into future leadership roles agility!

Learning Agility Can Predict Your Future Career Success

In everyday life, someone who is considered agile would be able to maneuver through or around physical obstacles. We can imagine athletes jumping over a hurdle or a running back in football navigating past the defensive line. In the context of leadership, agility is your ability to quickly learn from your experiences and appropriately apply that learning to real-life circumstances in real-time.

Being agile can be as simple as adjusting how you give constructive feedback to someone on your team after learning how they are hardwired so you can appropriately tailor your messages to them. It can be as complex as learning how to skillfully navigate through a challenging negotiation to achieve a win/win resolution while maintaining healthy relationships.

Learning agility is a predictive skill that senior executives will often look for when identifying individuals who may have the potential to successfully advance into leadership roles. Being an agile learner demonstrates your capacity for increased and continued growth. So, it’s a signal for future performance and productivity.

Ready to Rigor It?

If you want to learn how to become a better leader, build your leadership team or even engage your entire organization in a leadership learning journey, look no further. The Leadership Rigor Virtual Academy is an immersive program that structures personal and social learning for Private Companies and Family Businesses interested in energizing their culture, accelerating talent bench readiness, and delivering future growth. This newly available enterprise online academy is already getting breakthrough results! For more information, visit Leadership Rigor Virtual Academy.