Management development

Management development

"Aren't you afraid that you'll spend a lot of money on developing your managers and then they'll leave the company?"

"Of course I am. But I'm even more afraid of what happens if I don't spend money on developing them and they stay."

- unknown CEO

What does management development mean to us?

We believe that a leader's day-to-day performance is fundamentally determined by his or her ability to answer the following questions with a valid yes:

Therefore we will focus first on the most intrinsic circle, the management's self-awareness. We believe that leading people effectively is only possible through getting to know them, and for that, getting to know yourself is essential. It is very important for a leader to be aware of his/her own preferences, motivations and beliefs in order to be able to authentically motivate, guide and develop others.

This is followed by an exploration of "what my role is in the organisation", what my own manager expects of me, what my colleagues expect of me and what the people I lead expect of me. How can I work effectively with even conflicting expectations? How do I find common ground between external expectations and my own internal compass and leadership approach? As a leader, how do I want to influence my environment?

Having said all this, it is worth looking at specific leadership skills: how can I effectively lead people, teams, organisational functions? How do I manage my resources, delegate, motivate, give and receive feedback? How do I build a team and manage conflicts within the team? How can I improve my work?

Our development cornerstones

We teach to learn. Whatever development tool we use, our aim is always for leaders to learn from their own experience, from conscious reflection on their own operation, from courageous experimentation. Only genuine experiential learning will result in lasting change in behaviour and leadership.

We teach to improve. In our approach, developmental - "coach-attitude" - leadership is not just about sharing some knowledge with someone less experienced, although this is an important aspect too. However, a leader who develops others is able to ask questions and gives feedback in a way that inspires the other person, unleashing their potential for growth and motivation to achieve. The best leaders can both impart knowledge and help others to acquire it - and make situational choices between the two.

Development is work (and can be enjoyed). We believe it is essential that the leaders we work with take responsibility for their own development. Development cannot happen if the leader only 'attends' a training, coaching or workshop. We inspire - and expect - leaders to work on their own development, to put their time, energy and commitment into the process.

Development is a process. Development, like all change, is never a moment in time. There are faster and slower, easier and more challenging stages on the path of progress, but you can't arrive at the finish line immediately after you start. We see the development of leaders as a process, where growth happens not only during individual events (training, workshops, coaching) but also in between them, in the course of everyday work.

What tools do we use for leadership development?

We are not locked into schemes or methodologies. We work with a variety of tools and know which are most appropriate in which situations. We lead coaching processes, we run workshops for small and large groups, we support on-the-job learning processes, we work with training tools. Depending on the specific assignment, we design and tailor development processes, ranging from intensive programmes lasting a few weeks to leadership academies covering all areas of leadership over several years.