Coaching, Mentoring, & Preparing Leaders

While reading an article entitled ‘Say You Want an Evolution’ in the May 2011 issue of Chief Learning Officer I found an interesting quote in relation to leaders and leadership.  The vice president of training and development at Chick-fil-a was quoted as saying “Leadership is like an iceberg. . .Ninety percent of a leader’s capability – his or her character – is below the water line.  The other 10 percent – their skills – are visible and easier to identify but they’re not ultimately what makes a successful leader.”  We should be taking a closer look look as to what is underneath the water line. Individuals possess many different traits that can be beneficial in many different areas so it is important for those who are in a position to cultivate potential, new, and emerging leaders to assess the skills and traits that are not readily apparent.

This made me think about the types of things that ‘leaders’ do to help encourage the growth of up and coming potential leaders of tomorrow, specifically in the world of business and education.  There are many types of support given by higher ups such as teachers, managers, coaches.  Some of the actions that immediately came to mind were as follows:

• telling them what to do
• showing them what to do
• a combination of telling and showing in addition to providing feedback
• there is also a responsibility of the person who is in the learning position to take any information provided and apply it constructively to their current situation in order to grow

In a conversation with an old friend from work who had changed jobs a few years back he mentioned that he was now a manager.  One thing that I found very interesting was the statement that as a manager at his new workplace there was no formal training on management available to the employees.  This lack of training led to learning on the fly and seeking out information concerned with the intricacies of his organization and management in general.  One implication of this was trying to learn about the best ways to support his team in a meaningful and tactful way that produced good working relationships and working results.  This was in stark contrast to our previous shared place of employment that does offer formal management education and mentoring for managers in various stages of their career.  One special thing to note is not all managers are required to take this training so there are instances in both organizations where managers only have that title in name and have not been given the formal training required in order to be efficient and productive managers in the eyes of both their employees and higher-ups.

If we are trying to prepare and cultivate leaders should we not ensure that those who are currently in leadership positions receive the type of training, development, and experience that allows them to give back and help grow the future leaders of tomorrow?