Leadership Training

After working for nearly 30 years, I have to admit that I've had quite a bit of Leadership Training.  I'm optimistic, and hope that my company has invested in my career because they saw leadership qualities in me.  The point here is that after 30 years, I've had plenty of exposure to both good and bad leadership training, and I'm willing to share my insights with others.

Leadership Training Basics

Before you embark on your search for the perfect leadership training course, you need to spend time looking inward, while thinking about the feedback you've gotten from others - especially your manager.  This is not as easy as it sounds because you really need to be honest with yourself to figure out where you need help.

For example, if you find yourself arguing with others, then you might want to take a training course on handling conflict.  If you've recently been introduced to a new group, then you might want to consider a team-building leadership training course.  See the pattern?

If you find yourself in a new position at your company, one that requires the supervising or management of others, then you should consider taking a "management and / or leadership" course.  In fact, these early leadership courses should be introductory type programs, which will be the foundation upon which later leadership training courses build.  They are a foundation in the basics of leadership - not to be ignored.

If you find yourself suddenly in charge of a unionized workforce, then I strongly suggest that you find out if your company provides training on enforcing the collective bargaining agreement that you have with the Union.  When I was supervising union employees, I thought this was one of the most useful training courses I had ever taken.  It keeps you out of trouble, and the union membership honest.

In-House Leadership Training

This brings up a good point about internal or in-house training versus external training courses.  There was a time when large organizations attempted to do a lot of their leadership training in-house.  Over the last 15 years, many companies have come to realize that being in the leadership training business is not their area of expertise.  That's why more companies are turning to external resources to help in this area.

There are some training courses, such as those dealing with collective bargaining agreements, which are specific to a company.  For these courses, in-house training is preferred.  However, it is my experience that higher-quality leadership courses can be found more frequently outside of your company's domain.

Leadership Training Recommendations

This brings up a good point.  If you can, try to get a recommendation from someone else about a particular training course before you sign up for anything.  I've sat through many leadership training classes that were, quite frankly, a waste of my time.  Ask several people for their opinions, and see if there is a pattern.

Make sure you are asking the right people for their opinions.  I know many associates that love to go to training classes just because they view it as a couple of days out of the office.  As long as you are considering being out of the office, then you might as well learn something too.

Leadership Training Programs

As with most things, you tend to get what you pay for, and leadership training is really no exception.  If your company offers courses internally, then they tend to only be as good as the trainer.  Now that might sound obvious, but the specialty training organizations I will talk about shortly can afford to have quality control and development practices in place.  This means you are almost guaranteed to be exposed to the latest information on leadership, and the most progressive thinking.

Organizational Leadership Training

Included in my list of leadership training providers is the American Management Association.  If you've been a manager for a couple of years, their course offerings booklet has probably been in your in-box at least once.

If you're looking for an organizational leadership training course, AMA offers such courses as Mastering Organizational Politics, and Influence and Alliances and Planning, and Managing Organizational Change.

The AMA can provide on site training or you can visit one of their five conference centers located throughout the US.  A typical leadership course might take two to three days and cost roughly $1,000 per day for tuition.

Executive Leadership Training

Perhaps the single best leadership training experience I've had to date was at the Center for Creative Leadership.  They've been offering an executive leadership training program for nearly 40 years and it shows.  The center's philosophy is around a 360 degree feedback mechanism.  Typically, this would involve a self assessment to be completed before attending a training program, followed by careful observation and feedback from CCL staff and other participants - in a safe and non-intimidating fashion.

Of course all of the individualized attention you will get at a leadership program run by CCL does come at a cost.  The ratio of trainer to participant is very low - meaning there are many members of the CCL staff observing the trainees.  A typical leadership training course at CCL runs five days and costs in the neighborhood of $1,500 - $2,000 per day.

This may seem expensive, but this was the single best executive leadership training and learning experience I've had to date.  If you are an executive that is looking for training at its finest, then you need to explore CCL's offerings.

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