The Two Levels Of Leadership Training

There are two levels to "Leadership" training.

The first is attributes. That's who you are.

The second is technique. That's what you do.

So any leadership training would have to focus on both levels.to have two-level leadership training. You deal partly with what a leader needs to be, and partly with what a leader can do.

I see it kind of like this--if you want to build buildings, there are two levels to what you have to learn.

First, you've got the principles of construction. Where do you put support structures? How much support do certain weights need? What types of materials are best in what situations? Knowing this stuff is what makes you a builder.

From there, you also learn how to use the tools. How to use a screwdriver, how to use a hammer, how to use the nails.

But if I want to be a true builder, it has to go in that order. The knowledge of how to use the tools is useless before I've learned the principles. I might be the best in the world with a screwdriver, but if I don't know how many support beams to put in a wall--or, even worse, if I don't know when to use a screwdriver and when to use a hammer--it still won't help. And I'll likely fall into the trap of trying to use a screwdriver for all my building needs.

For example, I see a seminar on "Offering Constructive Feedback" to be the "Technique" side of things. It's "tools." It's good, and it's necessary, but if it's not grounded in correct principles and sincerity, it's not going to work.

The purpose of the leadership training should be principle based. It's about the ideas that help you know when to use which tools.

And, just as importantly, about being the kind of person who can do it. In the analogy, that means being a builder. Or in this case, being a leader.

It's like I've discovered about my struggles with my weight. It was, in the end, less about the "tool" than it was about the sincerity and the effort behind what I was doing. When I really, really meant what I was doing, almost anything I tried would work. When I didn't really mean it, nothing did.

Telling a poor leader the right words to say when giving feedback can be just as ineffective as telling a CSR who doesn't care about his customers to smile more and giving them a cheerful script. It won't improve the way they're being received, because, deep down, their heart isn't in the right place. The pasted-on smile or cutesy script won't change that.

So "being"-type training--the things that focus on who a leader is--would be just as important as "doing" training that teaches skills or other tools.
When I hear someone say that "Attribute" training is too theoretical, I worry. Because it means they're probably focused on results at any cost. They just want to know what to say to make everything come out the way they want. They want the magic tool.

And that makes them forget that other people have things they want, too, and that some costs are too high, and that you can never force greatness. Because ultimately, results-at-any-cost isn't true leadership. It's bullying or emotionally blackmailing and short-sighted.

If you want specifics, one that springs to mind is trust. I've really come to believe that any problem that two people have, whether it's a CSR and a customer, an area manager and one of their store managers, or even a husband and wife, or parent and child, can usually be broken down on some level to a problem with trust.

The symptom might be something else ("My manager is giving that CSR more hours than me!") but at it's heart, it's a trust issue ("I no longer trust my manager to look out for my best interests.").

So the attribute would be twofold:

1. Giving the other person all the reasons in the world to trust you.

• Recognizing that trust is not automatic, and that we have to give others reasons to trust us.
• Not making commitments you can't follow through on.
• Sometimes making commitments and keeping them that have no business benifit, but for the sole reason of giving them another reason to trust you.
• Being careful about what you do and say about others around people, lest they worry what you do and say about them when they're not around.
• Being very open about where employees stand, how they're progressing, what our plans for them are, etc.
• Creating goals and plans together, and then working together for common goals.

2. Finding all the reasons we can to trust them. (Not in a Pollyanna-ish, naive way, but by:)

• Soliciting feedback frequently, so we're not in doubt as to their thoughts
• Creating an environment in which they are comfortable offering us feedback, so they can tell us what they're really thinking, not just what we want to hear.
• Not just assuming the worst when problems arise, but sincerely trying to figure out their motivations and point of view, and even eliciting the facts before jumping to conclusions
• Creating goals and plans together, and then working together for those common goals.