When we talk about leadership, usually it is individuals that come to mind. But executive teams need to work together for full impact on their teams. When even one team member has poor leadership skills, it can act to deter the effectiveness of others on the team. It can even demoralize them to the point of their leaving the organization.

At Oakley Advisors, we offer team leadership programs which ensure that every member of the team has the strongest possible leadership skills and that the team works together for optimum leadership effectiveness.

We work with a great many executives who demand perfection from their teams. They demand these high standards of themselves as well. These are perfectionists who feel they are justified in exacting these demands from their teams because they hold themselves to the same high standard. If fact, it non productive to hold either their teams OR THEMSELVES to a perfectionist standard. There is nothing wrong with striving for excellence. But perfection is something altogether different. Perfectionism is seeking the end of the rainbow. It is an unachievable mirage. To actually demand it of others or yourself is abusive behavior of the highest order.

Leadership development takes work AND practice.

In yesterday’s entry, we talked about learning leadership skills. Most world-class companies have made some investment in professional leadership development for their executives. Usually, the format for these programs is seminar based where groups of executives learn leadership skills in a classroom or a “team building” environment. The problem is that the vast majority of what is taught in these sessions is forgotten very shortly after they are concluded. Some estimate that up to 80% is lost (not retained) in just 2 weeks after the executives return to work.

The key to retention is practice. It takes 21 days of repetition for a new habit to take hold. One on one executive coaching is far more effective in driving executives to practice what they have learned and adopt these new skills as a permanent part of their behaviors.

There is no magic to improving leadership skills. It should come as no surprise that leadership encompasses a set of skills and many of these can be taught and learned. Many executives have coaches for their golf games, financial planners for their personal finances, and personal lawyers for legal advice. They are proud of having a well-known golf coach, financial planner, or a prestigious attorney. BUT they do not think they need an executive coach. Why is this? In most cases, it is because they see having an executive coach as a sign of weakness. They think that they already know and practice all the traits of superior leadership. After all, how else would they have gotten to where they are?

The truth is that most executives rise through the ranks without any formal leadership training. They think because they make that rise that they must have the skills that it takes. And, they must exercise them pretty darn well. But that is not always the case. Just as in golf or any other discipline, there is always a professional technique for a given skill that can vastly improve your game. Executive coaches have been taught these techniques and how to instill then in others through rigorous certification programs.