Leaders are essential to any business. After all, they create the culture, facilitate success, and strategize solutions to difficult problems the company might face. As such, it’s essential that leaders continue to hone their skills in an ever-changing marketplace. Thus, becoming better versions of themselves all throughout their tenure at a company. Most companies have invested in leadership development training at some level, whether that’s conferences, courses, or online learning modules. While each of these can be helpful, it’s important that the leader truly be ready to get the most out of training whenever it’s offered. This can be incredibly difficult for a number of reasons. A leader might not be in the right frame of mind, or they might be struggling with other aspects of their positions at that time.
One-size-fits-all solutions, where everyone is given the same curriculum and practices the same skills, is inevitably going to resonate with only a portion of its audience. This is a major problem for companies. This means they invest time, money, and effort into securing these courses, only for the returns to be far less than what they expect. Every business needs to think carefully about how they utilize its resources. This is why tailoring an approach, and delivering at just the right time, is such a major boost to any training curriculum.
Just-in-time leadership training is a highly effective training program: here’s why.
Every leader is at a different stage of their development. Some are still finding their footing and learning to effectively manage a team, while others are working on mastering key skills they’ve been using for years. This is why one-size-fits-all solutions often miss their mark. They often seek the largest possible audience without considering the specific needs of every individual.
Just-in-time leadership development assesses the individual goals and progress of every individual. It provides a curriculum that helps prepare them for success. Each participant will complete an assessment that builds a personality profile and developmental pathway that matches their goals. This ensures that the training is delivered in a format that makes sense for them. Thus, it hits the key areas in which they need the most help.
Certain forms of learning are more successful than others. Simply listening to a lecture or watching a presentation is not enough. After all, this doesn’t help information ‘stick’ in someone’s mind. To get the most out of training, the learner needs to put that knowledge to good use immediately. This helps retain almost 90% of information learned.
Just-in-time leadership development takes advantage of this by giving learners short, focused lessons that they can start using right away while managing their employees. Instead of waiting months for a particular tool or method to become relevant, leaders will learn exactly what they need to know right now. These are skills they can begin employing the instant they’re done learning. This helps cement the information in their mind and ensure that they continue to utilize it long after the lesson is over.
Just-in-time leadership development isn’t a one-and-done process like going to a conference or watching a lecture. Instead, it’s a continual path of development. Each lesson builds upon previous knowledge and introduces new concepts over time. Leaders will get into the habit of utilizing this information. Thus, each session will simply reinforce what’s already been learned so that it becomes a regular part of a person’s leadership style.
The more that someone encounters and uses a particular skill set, the more natural it will become. This training method keeps the information fresh in the learner’s mind by continually exposing them to the concepts.
Going to conferences and seminars might be fun for many leaders. Especially, as they’re an opportunity to network, learn, and relax. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that conferences are a particularly good financial investment. Many will forget most of what they’ve learned the instant they step out of the conference center and hop back on a plane toward home. Even materials like handouts and manuals are not that helpful. All they’ll remember are the other fun aspects of the trip, like dinners out and good conversations.
Many companies pay for their employees to visit conferences. Often, expecting they’ll get a return on investment with refined skills and new knowledge. However, they are usually only disappointed when nothing changes. That is why just-in-time training is a better option. The short, ongoing lessons don’t overload the learner with information. Instead, it allows them small info-boosts that they can use right away. There’s less time spent on lessons, but even greater benefit. Especially, as more information is retained and utilized immediately. Leaders don’t need to take a week off to visit a conference. Instead, they can complete a lesson during the course of their day and then get right back to work.
Personalized, short, and economical, just-in-time leadership development is the perfect way to boost your company’s bottom line by advancing its leaders’ skills. As you develop your leadership team, consider how just-in-time development training can provide an amazing return on investment.
