Ensure Success: Get Your Company Ready for an External Leadership Development Team
Hiring an external team for leadership development can provide your organization with valuable expertise, scalability, and fresh perspectives. But to achieve optimal results, you must create the right environment for collaboration and ensure alignment between internal stakeholders and the external team.
Here’s how you can set your external team up for success and maximize the effectiveness of your leadership development program.
1. Define What Success Looks Like from the Beginning
Your external team will be most effective if they understand your objectives from the outset. Clearly communicate the leadership outcomes you want to achieve and establish success metrics to measure progress.
Steps to Define Clear Goals:
Identify key areas for development: Are you focusing on emotional intelligence, strategic decision-making, or team leadership?
Set measurable outcomes: Define specific goals, such as improving employee retention rates or increasing team productivity.
Prioritize both short- and long-term objectives: Balance immediate needs with sustainable growth goals.
Example: If your goal is to improve leadership communication, a success metric could be a measurable increase in team engagement scores or positive feedback from employee surveys.
2. Secure Company-Wide Commitment to the Program
For an external team to succeed, leaders and employees within the organization must support the development initiative. Without internal buy-in, participation may be inconsistent, and desired outcomes could fall short.
How to Build Internal Buy-In:
Involve key stakeholders early: Engage senior leaders in the planning process to demonstrate their commitment.
Communicate the benefits: Highlight how the program will benefit both individual leaders and the organization as a whole.
Address concerns: Be proactive in addressing any doubts or skepticism about the program.
At Talent Praxis, we partner with clients to conduct pre-launch discussions and workshops that build enthusiasm and create alignment among key stakeholders.
3. Collaborate on Customizing the Development Initiative
Your external team will have expertise in designing leadership programs, but they need your input to tailor solutions that fit your company’s unique culture and goals. Collaboration is key to building a program that resonates with participants.
How to Collaborate Effectively:
Provide organizational context: Share information about your company’s mission, values, challenges, and culture.
Co-create content: Work with the external team to ensure that training materials, case studies, and scenarios are relevant to your industry and organizational dynamics.
Offer feedback regularly: Be prepared to review program components and suggest adjustments when necessary.
By collaborating with Talent Praxis, companies create leadership programs that reflect their values and priorities while incorporating innovative, research-backed techniques.
4. Provide Key Resources and Organizational Insights
Your external team will need access to key resources, including data, documents, and personnel, to fully understand your organization’s needs and develop a comprehensive strategy.
What to Provide:
Leadership assessments and performance reviews: Help the external team evaluate current leadership capabilities.
Organizational charts and business plans: Ensure they understand company structure and strategic objectives.
Internal champions: Assign individuals within your company to act as liaisons, providing ongoing support and feedback.
At Talent Praxis, our process involves partnering with internal stakeholders to review existing performance data, ensuring that our customized plans address real challenges.
5. Establish Open Communication and Continuous Feedback
Effective communication between your organization and the external team is essential for identifying challenges early and making improvements. Regular check-ins help ensure that the program stays on track and meets evolving organizational needs.
Best Practices for Ongoing Communication:
Set regular meetings: Weekly or biweekly check-ins allow for status updates and feedback.
Create feedback loops: Encourage participants and internal stakeholders to share their experiences and insights.
Track progress: Use performance metrics and qualitative feedback to measure success and make necessary adjustments.
Talent Praxis emphasizes iterative improvement, using participant feedback and performance data to refine leadership development programs continuously.
6. Create Early Wins to Build Momentum and Trust
To maintain enthusiasm and participation, aim for quick, measurable wins early in the program. Early success can create positive momentum and demonstrate the value of the program to skeptical participants or leaders.
How to Generate Early Wins:
Set achievable short-term goals: Identify initial milestones, such as completing assessments or participating in workshops.
Celebrate successes: Recognize participants who show measurable improvement or demonstrate new leadership behaviors.
Share success stories: Communicate early wins to the organization to reinforce the program’s impact.
For example, a company working with Talent Praxis might start by implementing a short-term coaching program for emerging leaders and highlighting early improvements in their decision-making skills.
7. Encourage Flexibility and Adaptability
Leadership development is not static, and neither should your program be. The ability to pivot and adapt based on feedback, organizational changes, or external challenges is essential for long-term success.
How to Stay Adaptable:
Monitor progress: Use both quantitative metrics (like performance data) and qualitative feedback (such as participant insights) to assess effectiveness.
Iterate frequently: Be prepared to adjust training materials, timelines, or goals as needed.
Stay aligned with organizational shifts: If your company undergoes changes (like mergers or market expansions), update the program to reflect new priorities.
At Talent Praxis, our iterative approach ensures that programs remain relevant and continue delivering value, even as organizational needs evolve.
8. Commit to Long-Term Growth
Leadership development isn’t a one-time event—it’s a continuous process that requires long-term commitment. External teams can help establish sustainable programs, but internal support and follow-through are crucial for lasting success.
How to Sustain Growth:
Develop internal leadership champions: Train internal leaders to carry on the work after the external engagement ends.
Document key learnings: Maintain a knowledge base of best practices and successful strategies.
Schedule periodic reviews: Regularly evaluate and refresh the program to address emerging challenges.
Talent Praxis helps organizations build long-term leadership pipelines by embedding development practices into their company culture.
Achieve Long-Term Success Through Strategic Partnerships
Setting your external team up for success requires clear goals, collaboration, and ongoing communication. By fostering an environment of trust, adaptability, and support, you can ensure that leadership development initiatives deliver long-lasting, transformative results.
Ready to build a leadership development program that drives sustainable growth? Partner with us and let’s start building!
