subject: Leadership Is There For The Making [print this page] Leadership is a skillLeadership is a skill. Some people may have some natural-born leadership ability, but by and large, it is a skill that can be acquired, sharpened, and improved. Exposure to everyday situations can provide that training, but in that form, it is a long, rough, and rugged road to the development of quality leadership. In every situation or occupation where leadership is valued, leadership simulations provide added and controlled experiences that can dramatically reduce the time and improve the quality of both the leader and his team.
Sports provided the perfect analogy. Athletes spend about an hour competing in most games, but spend several hours a day in training, building strength, competency, and teamwork to be able to perform predictably and successfully in the arena. Likewise, in the military, leadership talent is proactively sought and situations created, from boot camp all the way to command, for leadership and skills to be enhanced. I wouldn't want to go into combat with troops that hadn't been though rigorous combat training. The same should hold true in the workplace; if office and corporate officers haven't been properly trained to lead and problem-solve, you will find yourself fighting a battle for which you may be ill-prepared.
In today's corporate world, leadership training has a lot to do with the ability to understand and implement systems. A system is a standard operating procedure that is more or less the default mode for any given situation or task. Systems can provide a large portion of the management aspect of leadership, and leadership simulations give the leader-in-training the ability to implement those systems, analyze how they work, and evaluate their effectiveness in a controlled situation. Once mastered in the simulated environment, the training can be directly applied to real-life situations in the everyday work environment.
Of course, the real value of proper leadership training is the ability to build and work an effective team. About twenty years ago, synergy became a buzzword in leadership circles. Essentially, it is the idea that one plus one equals three or greater; that the efforts of two or more people working together produce more than those people could individually. When the teamwork is lacking, people often produce less as a team than they would working as individuals. Leadership simulations increase the ability of the leader to create a truly synergistic team that can accomplish great things.
Take the time to invest in leadership simulations for your business. The productivity will take your company to the next level.
