Leadership training

Leadership training has changed

Leadership training may seem like an old-fashioned word. Why are managers trained? Can leadership education solve complex business problems any more, where managers are required to be increasingly versatile, innovative and creative in solving unprecedented and untested business problems?

In the past, leadership training mainly targeted line management in large and medium-sized companies, preparing middle management for more demanding tasks, communicating strategy, demonstrating the company’s willingness to invest in and engage managers. However, the context in which organizations operate and do their work has changed radically and leadership training has changed with it. Middle management no longer even exists in most organizations and leadership training is increasingly being undertaken at the organization’s own expense and as part of the individual’s career path. Most leadership trainees are looking for their next job outside their own organization. The content and nature of leadership training has therefore changed significantly.

Forms of leadership training

Today, leadership training is very clearly divided between leadership training leading to a qualification and very specific leadership training. Degree-level leadership training serves in particular the individual’s desire to develop his or her own career and skills as a manager. Typically, this is done in MBA-type leadership training programs run by business schools or in degree programs with a broad theoretical background in business management.

One approach is to provide leadership training based on an examination, where the individual manager demonstrates his or her own leadership skills by means of an examination. The evidence-based approach also often includes preparatory leadership training with a broad curriculum.

Another approach is precision training. In these leadership training courses, the organization has usually defined a specific area of leadership that it wants its managers to master. Typically, leadership training in this case might be strategic thinking and strategy implementation. Management team coaching, change management skills, and tough financial and investment accounting are also topics that are considered targeted leadership training.

The impact of leadership training

Measuring the impact of leadership training is a topic that has been of great interest to academic research and the HR function that buys leadership training. Leadership training is expensive and there has been a clear desire for a communicable return on the capital invested. The challenge in proving the effectiveness of leadership training is the context of management. The impact of leadership training on the performance and effectiveness of managers is difficult to verify and isolate from all other factors affecting the competitiveness of the organization. It has been shown that good leadership skills have a significant impact on firm performance and competitiveness. It has also been shown that leadership training develops managers in the short term. However, the long-term impact of leadership training is difficult to prove as managers change organizations more frequently and more rapidly and as the business environment continues to change. What is clear, however, is that leadership skills are becoming obsolete at an increasing rate. It is also clear that leadership training remains one of the most important means of keeping managers’ skills up to date. That is why leadership training is still needed.