We all question the real value of training in terms of effectiveness from time to time. The statistics on leadership programs impact look impressive.
But as adults, we are at an advanced stage of becoming what we ultimately will be. We think the pace and possibilities may be evaporating rapidly. What we may sometimes forget is that even as adults, we still should go through distinct developmental
phases.
According to leading psychologists, for example, Dr Robert Kegan, the transition is through five stages.
This moves from the childhood ‘Impulsive’ to the ‘Imperial’ mind. Most adults settle into the ‘Socialized’ mind.
A scary thought is that according to his theory, 65% of the adult population never become high functioning. They do not achieve ‘Self-authoring’ and ‘Self-transforming’ mind stages.
These last 2 are no doubt essential to being modern evolved leaders.
To optimize your chances of realising our full developmental potential as adults, we simply must do more than acquire new skills and knowledge. Therefore, for any leadership training to be successful, it needs to go deeper into the psychological mechanisms at play within personal growth that potentially might limit us.
An essential ingredient, according to Kegan, is changing the way we know and understand ourselves and the world. This is a fundamental thread that weaves its way throughout all transformation-oriented programs in the workplace.
Opportunities to re-examine reflectively are available to participants of a range of leadership and related training. These include women’s leadership training online, unconscious bias awareness training, and equality, diversity and inclusion training.
During these trainings, we always build personal highways to advanced transformative mindsets. The combination and consistency of core thinking laid as a foundation within these leadership programs act as a springboard to dramatically changing our perceptions of everything we have experienced to date.
Taking control of becoming effective leaders
A key ingredient in all effective leadership training is reaching an understanding that we need to move away from experiences controlling us, to us proactively controlling many aspects of how we respond.
This is through greater awareness and detachment from our automatic responses. The beauty of this is that the greater our progress in these areas, the more we are likely to be energised
towards really engaging and connecting to things of importance outside ourselves.
Effective leadership programs, such as women’s leadership training online, will focus on leaders seeing their wholeness as individuals while also becoming more objective about why things are the way they are.
When going through these various programs we quickly begin to appreciate that we can be more than our feelings, behaviour, beliefs and perceptions.
Kegan points out that we are progressing when we distinguish ‘what I have’ in terms of feelings, emotions and mindset and decide to deliberately change and go beyond our own needs, agenda and desires.
Part of all leadership training
Is moving away from transactional relationships, which are a function of an ‘Imperial’ mind, to establish a more ‘Social’ mind where shared experience becomes more vital.
Mutuality becomes increasingly important where we value as well as balance the needs, wants, ideas and experiences of others together with our own.
To establish ourselves as effective leaders, however, we need to further transition towards embracing our uniqueness and authenticity while caring about others.
We make more active choices about what we stand for and this impacts every aspect of how we function within the world. We question more, explore more, create more and take more responsibility for outcomes.
We increasingly write our own life stories with our ‘Self-Authoring’ minds.
We can reach the pinnacle of development and leadership when we work with a more ‘Interconnected’ mind.
Constant creation and self-evolution are amplified by not being held hostage to particular ideologies, perceptions and ideas. We harness our own and the authority of others to remain open to endless possibilities that can make a real difference.
