Knowing leadership skills and practicing them consistently are two very different things.
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.
