How to get the most out of your leadership training
Katharina Stickling & Ruth Harrowfield – BA/BSc, MSc Hons, PGDip I/O Psych, PGDip Science (Cl. Psych)
You’ve been offered by your manager to participate in a leadership training programme and now you’re wondering how to make the most of it? Most leaders are both appreciative of the chance to learn and grow, and nervous about living up to the business’s or their own expectations post-training. It can be helpful to switch perspectives and to look at training as a process, not a one-time event.
So how exactly do you make learning stick?
A lot of new information is introduced in each training session and other job responsibilities don’t suddenly fall off the table just because you are going through training. The emails keep piling up! The reality is that good training will ask you to change your behavioural or conversational patterns, a process that takes time, awareness and practice.
Here are some starter ideas to help the learning stick:
Determine your personal goals
First, clearly define why you are participating in this particular training and what expectations you have of yourself as a result of it. Which skill do you want to develop? What behaviour/s would you like to change or improve on? What difference would this make in your day-to-day work? Doing this before you start training will help you to be alert for the content and practices that apply to you and to focus in on them.
Get clarity on the business’s purpose and objectives for the training
Know for yourself the intention behind the training and what your role in it is. Are you new to leadership and keen to learn all you can, or are you a seasoned pro coming in for a tune up? Make sure you understand what the business wants from you coming out of the learning experience. If you haven’t been given clear metrics around those expectations yet, ask what parameters your behaviour will be measured against? This will help you remove any ambiguity and to generate more concrete actions to take after the training.
Schedule time to reflect
It can be challenging to stay on track with learning when other tasks call for your attention. Schedule a specific day and time each week to reflect on:
- What you are trying to learn or change in your behaviour and communication
- How much and how well you have applied it within the last week.
Make this a concrete part of your routine.
Practise, practise, practise
You won’t become a better leader overnight. Remind yourself daily of one little action you can try out to transform the learning from simply being new knowledge to an actual behavioural change.
Connect with a buddy for feedback
Most things become a lot easier with company and support. Get in touch with a trusted colleague, friend or even your manager to use and practise new tools and to ask for feedback. Be curious and inquire about what worked and what didn’t work in your delivery. This allows for a safe and comfortable space for trial and error and will provide you with specifics to take away and apply.
Hold yourself accountable to your own and business goals
Remind yourself that the effort and time you are putting into building a new skill is valuable, so don’t waste it. Review your goals and the purpose behind participating in the programme. Determine whether you are meeting those goals. If you’ve fallen off the wagon with your practice, jump back on and start again. Your organisation may already have accountability structures in place to ensure training is being applied; if not, you may find it helpful to ask someone (your buddy as above or your manager) to hold you accountable.
We’re in the training business – human skills to be precise. We help people to understand themselves, understand others and therefore communicate in a more effective, meaningful way.
Harrowfield People Development is a strategic learning agency based in Auckland, New Zealand.
We draw on the disciplines of organisational and behavioural psychology to provide fit-for-purpose training that build capability and confidence.
We help business leaders to bring out the potential that they see in their people by shaping habits of thinking, communication and action in the workplace. Talk to us today.
