Delivering Results, Developing Leaders

Leadership development comes from tackling a performance challenge, often outside your comfort zone. DMC believes that leaders are born from running initiatives that focus on delivering performance-driven results. School district leaders should consider this management style to help tie professional development to performance results.

Susan, an executive in a state mental hospital, participated in a two-phase leadership development program: (1) Phase One consisted of several months of seminars about new ideas and tools, followed by (2) Phase Two, which involved implementing a project and putting these new leadership skills to work.

Throughout the first phase, Susan enjoyed the speakers, was challenged by new concepts, and networked with people she hadn’t seen in a while. Over months of learning, Susan’s enthusiasm grew steadily - she couldn’t wait to begin applying what she’d learned.

But, when the first phase ended and she turned her attention to identifying a project, Susan became anxious. She had identified patient violence at the mental hospital as the key performance challenge she wanted to address. But, though Susan had done her best to share new ideas with colleagues throughout Phase One, she realized the ideas and concepts by themselves had changed nothing. The staff still found it hard to cooperate across silos, the patients still acted out too much, resources were still scarce, her boss was still disengaged, and morale was still poor. She’d had many interesting, valuable conversations, but what Susan thought she had learned quickly faded in the face of the many obstacles she faced.

Susan’s staff had proposed implementing a training program in how to handle assaultive patients, but it seemed as if it would take forever to organize. Her commitment felt like a New Year’s resolution gone sour by January 3rd. And she wondered, how could she possibly effect any real change?

Sound familiar? Far too many professionals across a broad variety of sectors complete classical leadership development programs energized by ideas and concepts only to go back to their workplace and find themselves stymied by the same old obstacles.