10 Responses

1. Try these toolkits
   A good starting point might be the Training Needs Analysis Toolkit and Performance Appraisal toolkits both available from Training Zone (or Trainers’ Library).

   Both have been written around a simple generic set of competencies, and will give you a good starting point.

2. Leadership competencies
   Hello Kara,

   I have a document that you might find useful. It comes from some work we were doing with a large financial services firm, and might give you a frameset for developing competencies.

   What was slightly different about our approach was that we not only sought to identify positive competencies, but also to identify behaviour which shows when they are NOT being applied. Gives a more balanced view, and therefore (we feel) a more realistic outcome.

   Let me know if you want me to send it to you (as it’s a Word doc with a table in it so I can’t post it here).

   All the best,

   Jon

3. Leadership competencies
   Hi Beth, we’ve developed the following set of behavioural competencies for identifying suitability for a leadership position over the past 20 years. The management template is different, please let me know if you’d like any more information on management traits or how we identify and measure these traits.

   Essential Traits (in order) – the more of these the better.

   Wants To Lead
   Influencing
   Takes Initiative
   Wants Challenge
   Enthusiastic
   Planning
   Self-improvement
   Persistent
   Pressure Tolerance
   Public Speaking
   Self-acceptance

   Desirable traits (in order) – too little of these are counter productive, but they don’t necessarily need to be strong characteristics.

   Optimistic
   Experimenting
   Flexible
   Frank
   Handles Conflict
   Helpful
   Organised
   Precise
   Warmth/empathy
   Manages Stress Well
   Relaxed
   Systematic
   Tolerance Of Bluntness

4. Leadership competency
   An unskilled leader is:
   more comfortable following;
   may avoid conflict, be unwilling to take a stand or have problems with taking a tough stand;
   might be laid back & quiet;
   too concerned about what others say or think;
   may worry too much about being liked, correct or above criticism;
   may be conflicy shy or lack perseverance;
   may not be cool under pressure;
   may not display a sense of urgency.
   A skilled leader:
   relishes leading;
   takes unpopular stands if necessary;
   encourages direct & tough debate but isn’t afraid to end it & move on;
   is looked to for direction in a crisis;
   faces adversity head on;
   is energised by tough challenges.
   Taken from ‘For Your Improvement’ by Lombardo & Eichinger.

5. Book and web-site ideas
   Kara,

   Sounds like an engaging piece of work. Two thoughts: The best book I know is “Competence at Work: models for superior performance” by Lyle and Signe Spencer. It’s not cheap, but it’s v. good. If you want, you can borrow it from me for a while. Also, I do some work with a Boston-based organisation called Burnham Rosen, and, in my humble opinion, they have an excellent model of leadership, based on decades of reseach, from one of the originators of the competency approach: David McClelland. Try http://www.burnhamrosen.com and “Interactive Leadership” for the model, and 0117 9442008 if you want to know more about the book.

   Good searching,
   Rob

6. The leadership model that you choose is less important than the
   The leadership model that you choose is less important than the manner in which that model is applied.
   If you tell someone how to behave they will resist making that change in their behaviour.
   If you allow them to discover how to behave then help them to find out how to do it you will produce a profound and sustained change.

7. New National Occupational Standards for Management
   The new National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership were approved in May. All Occupational Standards are competence-based. I suggest you might like to review these at www-management-standards.org

   Have fun!

   Pauline

8. e-Learning BTEC Certificate and Diploma in Management Studies
   Dear Kara

   You may be interested in finding out more about the e-Learning BTEC Certificate in Management Studies (CMS). This is a blended learning course and can lead to the BTEC CMS Qualifiactions – other qualifiactions are also available in Leadership and Management. The important thing re your question is that all courses are based on the National Standards for Leadership and Management and the Qualifiactions are on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The research and documentation which underpins the Quaifications is readily available in the public domain. The e-Learning materials themselves are of very high quality and capable of delivery on CD ROM, LANs, WANs, Intranets and the Internet itself – the materials are accredited by Edexcel, the leading Qualifications Awarding Body as supporting progress to the Qualifiactions – they work very well also as part of internally developed programmes if the qualifications are not required required. Sourcing the competency framework would save you a great deal of time, re-inventing the wheel, etc.

9. Australian Perspective
   Hi,

   If you want to consider approaches from overseas you could visit the Australian National Training Authority website – http://www.anta.gov.au. Our national competency model is called ‘Frontline Management’. A search of the site will demonstrate the entire contents of the approved training package.

   Another useful related link is the National Training Information Service at http://www.ntis.gov.au.

   I have experience delivering these programs in a diverse range of industries and I am happy to share those experiences should you so desire.

   Best wishes,

   Mick Walsh

10. It is a wide field; study it and decide what suits where your or
    Kara, as you research leadership you will find numerous models and that’s OK. As statisitcian George E. Box once said, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” What he is saying is that the map is not the territory.
    For an over view of just how wide the field is read “Leadership: Theory and Practice” by Peter G. Northouse published by Sage ISBN 0-8039-5769-6 for the paperback version.

    There is also the work of Bill Torbert, Suzann Cook-Greuter and David Rooke, the so-called Leadership Development Framework. This suggests everyone is on a developmental continuum and interprets the world through different frames of reference depedending where they currently are along it. This is useful for leadership coaches and programme designers in understanding where their clients might be and what interventions are appropriate. You could read “Personal and Organisational Transformations” 4th Edition ISBN 0-9538184-0-3. I have a spare copy if you have dificulty in obtaining it.

    Having designed and run a twenty-day management development programme I think the most important thing it is to make it relevant to your client group. Get their input. Find out what intests them. Of course they don’t know what they don’t, but nevertheless talking to them will give you and idea of the issues they face and thus some clues as to how to make it relevant.
    What are the issues that face your organisation currently? Do these give you a clue to elements that will gain senior management commitment and support? This is vital once the programme is running because the inital enthusiam will begin to fad in the fad of today’s problems.

    Ultimately whatever you implement, it will be the individual journeys of the particpants that will be important. Probably the most important resource will be the participants themselves supporting each other. You might consider using Action Learning Sets out of the participants to provide a mechanism for this support.