Welcome to the Go1 Course Category series. Each month I will introduce a different category of content and several suggested courses you should consider including in your learning program.
January: Leadership
Can you teach leadership?
This question often troubles Human Resource Managers, and the doubt around leadership courses means leadership is often left out of learning programs in favour of courses for more tangible skills such as Excel or speech preparation.
The distinction to make is that leadership courses don't have to be broad brush theory based - it’s the skills that can be taught under the tag of leadership that make the difference: empowerment, effective risk assessment and management, articulating company vision and much more. The significance leadership plays in every organisation's success means it should be part of your learning programs, so continue reading if you want to better understand how to best do that.
How do I fit leadership training into my organisation using Go1?
Start with a leadership program that supports new and young leaders offering career pathways to employees, further increasing retention. You might have identified employees who you think are your organisation's futures leaders, however personality aside, leaders need the combination of the right training and qualities.
How to provide leaders with targeted leadership training?
Employees are less likely to trust their management when leadership skills are lacking, so its important first-time leaders have some foundational knowledge to manage their new responsibilities. Eagles Flight, a large organisation, agrees it’s important to explain the rationale behind doing things, rather than simply laying them down. But once it’s understood why things are valid and worth the time, it’s more applicable in wider settings and therefore a more useful and powerful training method.
Within Go1 Premium you are exposed to over 350 courses tagged as leadership. To begin, focus on building out a small program and pick the content areas that follow the equation of including (1) theory and (2) skills.
Spotlight Provider: SkillSoft
The spotlight is on SkillSoft this month. SkillSoft was chosen as the provider with quality leadership content, because they effectively balance the theory content with relevant tactical tips. With 418 courses in Go1 Premium, they've got 46 courses tagged as leadership. There is a strong emphasis throughout the courses tagged as leadership as being for first-time and/or junior managers.
They have a strong balance between theory and skills-based courses, including managing functional teams, performance plans and positive leadership. We suggest building out a leadership Award, and assigning to new or upcoming leaders to form part of their professional development.
First course to add to that Award is SkillSoft's 'Building a Leadership Development Plan.'
Creating your own leadership development plan is a significant part of any successful and valuable leadership development strategy. This plan will help ensure you remain focused on what is required to continually grow and develop as a leader. In this course, you'll learn about how to assess yourself as a leader, establish a vision for the future, and identify obstacles to that vision.
Come back next week to find out what other leadership courses we suggest to add to your Award.
- Biz Library: Leadership fundamentals
