Reflecting on Your Team Development Strategy
I know so many of you are wrapping up the year right now and you're in that space where you're holding the tension between reflection and looking back on the past year – you’re finishing up projects and figuring out what worked well, what didn't and what you hope to change.
Then, at the other end of this, you're holding a rope that's attached to 2023 and planning for what's ahead, so that's a tricky spot to be in because you have to balance that tension because they are related and connected. I also know that reflection, and planning can bump up against each other a little bit and it feels like we don't have time for either.
So in today's podcast episode we are going to reflect on your team development strategy.
I want to have a conversation about how you're envisioning doing development with your team next year and in the future, and creating some space for that. So here we go!
On this episode you’ll hear…
Why you should reflect on your leadership strategy now rather than waiting for the New Year
What the Great Resignation actually was and why it’s imperative that you treat every person in your organization that they are capable of rising to the challenge – or else they will leave
The importance of on-the-job challenges and how this is a big area of leadership development
Thinking long term and short term at the same time because learning and development are two sides of the same coin
What Chaili believes whole leader development looks like for the individual and within the organization
Knowing the whole ecosystem that your organization is a part of and how this positively impacts your developmental strategy
Ready for more?
Listen in:
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** This is a raw, unedited transcript
Chaili Trentham 00:00
I know so many of you are wrapping up the year right now. And you're in that space where you're holding the tension between reflection and looking back on the past year, and you're wrapping up projects and figuring out what worked well, what didn't what you hope to change. And then at the other end of this, you're holding a rope that's attached to 2023. And the planning for what's ahead. And so that's a tricky spot to be in, because you have to balance that tension because they are related and connected. And at the same time, reflection, and planning can bump up against each other a little bit. And it feels like we don't have time for either, sometimes. So today's podcast episode, I started by titling it prep your team development strategy. And then I switched it to reflect on your team development strategy, because it really just, I want to have a conversation about how you're envisioning doing development with your team next year and in the future, and creating some space for that. So here we go. I meet with teams, I train teams, but when you're here listening, you're an individual leader, right and an individual listener. And so hopefully, you're listening from the perspective of I can take this and I can utilize it with my team and in my leadership, or you're listening to it maybe as somebody who's not in a position of authority, and you're thinking, okay, I can utilize this personally now in the way that I am leading myself and others laterally, and I aspire to use it someday with my teams, right. So hopefully, that's some of the content that you're gathering from the coffee on leadership podcast, that's the lens that you're looking at this with. But I was talking with a friend about how I frame out different philosophies of leadership, through coffee on leadership, both my leadership development, business and the podcast and thought of a few things. And last night, as I was falling asleep, I thought of some things that I quick wrote down on my phone that I need to share with you and have you consider especially if you're establishing some sort of team development calendar, or strategy heading into the new year, because it's time to begin reflecting now, we are in a season of seeing big tech layoffs currently and even hiring freezes, but also seen a return to work. And we're seeing a lot of hiring at in the same way that we're seeing those big layoffs. And so we're seeing a lot of return of promoting personal ownership of tasks and intrapreneurship. And bring that to our team. And we're also inviting in new styles of training and development, because we have this full reframe of quote unquote, traditional career trajectory. And so all of this means that there's a few ways to consider how we lead in and among our teams, and Haftar. This combo I was having recently with a friend about changing developmental models, and just changing times, I realized I wanted to lay out some core truths for you to consider to reflect upon for your team. Here it is, if you don't start treating every person in your organization, as leaders, capable of rising to the challenge, they will leave. I'm gonna say that, again, if you don't start treating every person in your organization, as leaders capable of rising to the challenge, they will leave. Okay. And that was kind of where this conversation I had with a friend lead. And I really feel like I just have to say it of we cannot separate out employee and leader in our organizations and in our teams, we have to see it from holistic view. And we'll talk about that a little bit in a minute. But that's point number one. There's a second truth I was thinking about those people feeling that they aren't valued for their personal leadership skills and strengths will find spaces where they are developed, and where they are valued and given opportunities to show what they've got, they will find a different space. And we are seeing that in this big shift. And the great resignation wasn't just a bunch of people changing their values. It was a complete realignment of what we believe to be true about ourselves as individuals about our work about our deep core values and how we show those to others. Okay, and then we know that on the job challenges account for a large part of leader development, okay, so that's what I'm saying like if you don't treat every person as capable as rising to a challenge, they will leave in the same vein leaders we know or should know that on the job challenges account for a big part of how our leaders are developing, only about 10% of leadership development comes from formal training or classroom style learning, or the type of stuff I do with coffee on leadership, okay? So give your teams the challenge is that they need to grow and learn. This is key for leaders to consider because 70% of the development of your team members happens on the job happens in those challenges. Okay, you've got to start considering the job duties on a job description has an integrated part of your development strategy for your team members and leaders, and that other 20% Cuz you're like, Okay, Surely you've got 10% comes from formal training. 70% comes from on the job. But what about the other 20% For those of you who are paying attention there, that other 20% comes from developmental relationships, like social and peer to peer learning, which again, means that an integrated approach to leadership development is really important, how we help build out developmental developmental relationships, or mentorships, or social opportunities or peer to peer learning opportunities in the workplace matters. In fact, it shows up and matters more than the formal training, right, then the classroom style learning and development that happens. But again, 70% of the development of your team members is happening on the job. So challenge them give them opportunities to rise to the occasion, going back up to my first point, because that's where they learn. So if you're prepping learning models, or your leadership pipeline or team development for the new year, you've got to start considering the bigger picture of program design, right. But also, though, daily, weekly annual project assignment, it's thinking long term and short term at the same time, right? Because learning and development are basically two sides of the same coin, you can't have one without the other. And sometimes learning comes first. And the development of that learned skill set happens in practice. Other times the development is happy happening in big sweeping moments, or it's happening in small, everyday tasks. And while learning is happening. In tandem, it all becomes the cycle, right? That you're kind of cycling between it all. So be a leader who grows your team consistently. Like that's the bottom line of it, be a leader who grows your team consistently, give learning opportunities, give developmental opportunities, treat your leaders, as leaders. And when you're developing first level or second level leaders in your org, so those new managers, new leaders, new Tural people, new to org people, you're maximizing potential, and you're also affirming that there's a place for them to grow here today, right? You're you're doing talent retention. By first recognizing that you have an opportunity to maximize potential, even at that first level of leadership. It can't just be the promise of someday or Oh, someday you'll get the promotion or someday when you hit that level, you'll get that coaching or that training or that leaders retreat, it has to start now. So that it can be a part of the org culture as a whole. And whole leader development. I mentioned this a minute ago, whole leader development, the approach I take the leadership is not just about the development that happens for the whole person, although that is a part of the meaning and a big part of it. And it's looking holistically at development of both personal and professional aspects of the individual. But whole leader development also has to be considered and how the leader as a whole person shows up to and engages with the external variables in the spaces and places where they lead its whole person within a whole organization. When you think about it, I want you to think about that whole person. Leadership Development is whole person within a whole organization. And when we create programs, for whole leader development, we're considering the exchange of those two things and the integration of those two things, organizations committed to the whole person have to be focused on the whole person from the perspective of inner self number one, and then number two other and the engagement between and among those around them, right? So it's that relationship side. So it's not just the inner self and then I'm good to go like we've trained our leaders, we've helped them shape their leadership identity. They're good, no, we have to consider how they will then engage between and among the people around them. And then we have to look at The third part is our systems and the interaction and contribution to the greater organization as a whole. Right. And when we begin to see it as this whole ecosystem as like when we're looking at team development as just these are my six to eight people that I directly supervise or limiting ourselves. But when we begin to see the greater ecosystem, and look at it as whole person and whole organization, and our developmental strategy, we have so much opportunity there. So as you're listening, as you're reflecting, consider where you're leading, and leaders, are you planning for every person's development heading into 2023? And are you considering the ways the whole person leadership development journey can be adjusted? How can you make changes for greater impact