In my last couple of blogs I’ve talked about some of the important responsibilities of a leader – giving timely and effective feedback, setting goals and objectives, and coaching employees for performance and career development. Becoming effective in these and other leadership skills – creating a vision, championing change, inspiring, developing employees, etc. – does not happen overnight. It requires learning (lots of it!) through experience, mistakes, and both formal and informal leadership development.
The good news is that there are a variety of options available for leadership development, ranging from traditional classroom programs to newer, more experiential opportunities. One such experiential opportunity is: “Unharness Your Leadership Potential – Maximize Your Executive Presence and Influence at Work.” This one-day leadership retreat, which incorporates horses (yes, you read that right) into the learning activities, is being offered Saturday, April 2, in Petaluma. The retreat will be led by Executive Leadership Coach Jo Ilfeld, Ph.D, of Success Reboot, and Ashley Smith, who is certified in Equine Guided Education.
You will learn:
- How to increase your visibility and transmit more confidence – even in uncomfortable work situations
- How to influence others more effectively at work, whether or not you have direct authority
- Your go-to influence techniques and strategies and how well they’re working for you
- How to effect change at work, even in situations where so much feels out of your control
- How to successfully impact the productivity and performance of your work teams
To register or find out more, email jo@successreboot.com
Another couple of “outside the classroom” opportunities for leadership development are self-assessments and volunteering. Becoming more self-aware is probably one of the most important steps in improving your effectiveness as a leader. When you understand how you behave in certain situations, and how others perceive your behaviors, you can begin to adapt those behaviors appropriately. Gaining that insight will help you with communication, dealing with conflict, and motivating people in ways that are meaningful to them. There are a number of self-assessment tools on the market, such as Meyers-Briggs and LuminaLearning. Volunteering to be on a Board or to take a leadership role in a professional organization, PTA or some other community organization is another way to develop leadership skills and experience. If you are not yet a leader in your regular job, but would like to get some experience and skills to progress along that path, this is an excellent way to get started.
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” – Chinese proverb