At the close of a successful leadership development program, energy is high. The call to action was clear. Everyone is leaving with their “one thing” to execute tomorrow. And … then what?
In parts one and two of this blog series, I shared design and facilitation best practices for large sessions of senior leaders who come together to discuss strategic initiatives. This final piece focuses on what to do after the session. We know the session itself is special—a unique time when leaders can be with their peers, hyper-focused on the topics at hand, and able to truly discuss the path forward. But then they return to their fast-paced roles and must find a way to carve that path amid operational demands, customer requests, and the teams they lead.
As Learning & Development professionals, we can be their business partners, helping balance the next steps in their strategic initiatives with the ongoing demands of daily business. We do this in three primary ways: insights and analytics, application to real work, and reinforcement.
Insights and Analytics
Our approach to learning immerses leaders in business scenarios where they can practice decision-making. The process and debrief are highly valuable, but so are the decisions themselves. These decisions are data—and data can be turned into valuable insight with the right analysis. Collect your leaders’ decisions to identify decision trends, common strengths, and gaps. These insights can be packaged for executive reporting (a great way to demonstrate the return on investment in the session itself) and to define future leadership development needs. For ongoing programs, we also use these insights to inform design updates. See two examples below.
In this example, the leadership audience is a high-potential group of emerging leaders expected to be promoted to the next level soon. This group makes far more effective decisions with their highest performer (Rena) but has far less impact when leading other types of performers. These leaders identify with high performers and, therefore, know how to stretch them while avoiding burnout. This client was able to invest in learning how to develop all types of performers across the organization to optimize results.
What is a high, medium, or low priority for sustaining a service culture for this organization? This slide shows the distribution of choices across several options made by 400 senior leaders. With only one exception, there is little alignment on the most important mechanisms to sustain the culture. This insight was crucial for our client, prompting them to enhance communication and alignment efforts to create consistency across the leadership team.
Application to Real Work
We all know that linking learning to work is the most effective next step, but securing sponsorship and commitment for structured project application can be challenging. We always recommend that leaders apply their learning to existing work challenges. While there maybe sometimes be a business case for a new project, existing work is always abundant. We often suggest that leaders choose something in their work that feels “stuck.” Those opportunities are often primed for a new approach.
Developing a structured application process while asking for just an hour or less of committed application per week is an effective combination to yield manageable but measurable results. Here is an example of one such process that leaders committed to for six weeks post-session:
To kick off this work, we recommend that leaders start it at the live session with a peer as a learning partner. A short 10-15 minute conversation can help establish a sense of accountability before leaders return to work.
Reinforcement
A final strategy, which can be combined with the first two or stand alone, is to reinforce key learning points from the strategy session in the weeks and months that follow. We use several approaches:
-
Challenge Circles: Leaders meet in small groups (virtually or in person) to continue their peer conversations about strategic initiatives. They offer each other peer coaching and support. These groups can be structured with pre-designed discussion topics or led by a coach/facilitator.
-
Microlearning: Short business scenarios that reinforce the key leadership points from the live session keep the call to action front of mind. These can be sent to leaders via email, Slack, or an LMS and can be low-tech or enabled by a technical solution. You can continue collecting decisions from these mini scenarios to build upon your insights and analytics.
-
Nudges: Nudges are short reminders, often sent by email, to keep key ideas on leaders’ radar. You can reduce the effort needed to send nudges by leveraging a technology solution.
You can continue to bring strategic leadership to life beyond the live session with high-impact, immersive, and measurable activities. Finding ways to collect data and share insights throughout the experience creates an important connection between Learning & Development and senior leadership. This connection reinforces your role as a strategic partner in the business.
