Donald Thompson: Common leadership tools don’t teach the critical art of engagement

Conventional leadership tools fall short in enhancing critical engagement skills. Popular methods focus more on individual development rather than improving team dynamics, leaving a gap in communication and collaboration capabilities crucial for business performance.

Developing strong leaders throughout an organization is key to sustainable growth and outstanding performance in an increasingly complex economic climate. However, executive leaders face a big dilemma: Many of the popular training tools on the market don’t help leaders develop the communication and collaboration skills that improve business results. They focus on personal growth, rather than team dynamics, and fail to help teams function more efficiently. A different approach to leadership development is clearly needed.

In our work with hundreds of clients, C-suite leaders and senior executives, my colleagues and I at The Diversity Movement hear the same prevailing sentiment: Strong leadership is vital to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Deloitte’s Human Capital Trend Report found that 94% of respondents believe leadership capabilities and effectiveness are important or very important to their organization’s success. Strong leadership is pivotal to an engaged and productive workforce, a fact supported by Gallup’s research on engagement. A staggering 70% of the variance in employee engagement can be directly tied to leaders and managers.

Common leadership development tools are coming up short

Unless leaders are adept at communication, collaboration, and self-awareness, their productivity and performance will suffer. Yet, our survey of clients, partners, and senior leaders from our network reveals that executives are struggling to cultivate these three essential leadership competencies throughout their organizations. What’s more, the most common leadership development solutions on the market today aren’t effectively addressing major gaps in these three key competencies.

Here are some highlights from The Diversity Movement’s research into commonly used leadership development tools, including the DiSC Assessment, CliftonStrengths and 360 Degree Feedback:

Those who use all three development solutions report that effective communication remains a challenge. This finding is particularly worrisome, as it’s estimated that poor communication costs the average full-time employee 7.47 hours in lost productivity per week.

Organizations who have used 360 Degree Feedback still report a lack of self-awareness on their leadership teams, a trait which has been shown to produce a higher rate of return for companies.

Teams who use CliftonStrenths report continued difficulty with collaboration, a practice which leads to greater innovation and productivity.

To be clear, our research didn’t find that these leadership development tools and solutions aren’t having an impact—they just don’t appear to be getting the full job done. And a lack of meaningful return on investment will naturally lead executives to prioritize other efforts, mostly because they can’t justify the investment in leadership development initiatives that don’t show business results.

One survey respondent sums up the issue like this: “Modern, healthy business cultures already know the intangible and tangible value of developing leaders and people; what businesses struggle with is providing a well-articulated rationale for investing in learning. ‘The right thing to do’ for people and culture needs to be married to sound business plans that CEOs and boards can get their heads around.”

The gap: Most leadership development tools focus on the individual

To see a better return on their leadership and development investments, executives must consider the difference between individual and team assessments.

Most of the common solutions on the market are focused on the individual—a single person’s strengths, weaknesses, and development opportunities. However, no single leader has the insight or ability to lead without meaningful feedback from their team members. The outdated “hero” model of leadership is evolving into a less hierarchical work environment, one that relies on the collective strength of an entire team.

How to choose a team-based, holistic solution

There isn’t a one-size-fits all solution for leadership development. Instead, executives should consider amplifying the more commonly used strategies with tools that address the gaps that individualized models leave wide open.

Support team-oriented leadership development efforts. It’s important to know how a leader and their team work together to deliver results in the business. What are the team’s collective strengths? Where do they need to do better? How well are they practicing inclusive leadership, and tapping into the strengths, ideas and viewpoints of their team members? Select solutions that will give you data and insights about the team as a whole, as well as individually.

Make sure you can integrate tools and solutions into everyday activities. Real leadership development doesn’t happen in a one-day training or through an hour-long assessment; it happens every day in meetings and conversations between leaders and their teams. The more your leaders and teams can implement what they’re learning from the leadership development tools they use, the more effective they’ll be in delivering results for the business. Screen for solutions that allow team members to use what they’re learning, and gain ground on the areas where they need development.

Look for solutions that use an Assess-Coach-Train (ACT) model. Through thousands of touchpoints with leaders, we have found that an ACT model offers not only an evaluation of a team’s skills and strengths, but also the coaching, consultation and education that fortifies growth for both individual leaders and the collective team. The foundation of an ACT-based leadership development model is peer support, collaboration and feedback that provides a more holistic view of how the team works together.

Effective leadership development must be measured by the return on investment. If executive teams want to see measurable results from their leadership training, they need tailored solutions that target specific challenges and address crucial team dynamics. Current off-the-shelf training systems can’t solve the ever-changing business needs of today’s leadership teams; only a holistic, personalized approach will help leaders work better together and win in the marketplace.

If you’d like to explore more insights about current trends and challenges in leadership development—and what executives can do to maximize their return on investment—check out The Diversity Movement’s 2024 State of Leadership Development Trend Report.

About the Author

Donald Thompson, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 SE Award-winner, founded The Diversity Movement, a Workplace Options Company, to fundamentally transform the modern workplace through diversity-led culture change. Recognized by Inc., Fast Company and Forbes, Thompson is author of Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success, hosts the podcast “High Octane Leadership in an Empathetic World” and has published widely on leadership and the executive mindset. His new book is The Inclusive Leadership Handbook: Balancing People and Performance for Sustainable Growth, co-authored with Kurt Merriweather, Vice President of Marketing and Innovation at The Diversity Movement. Follow Thompson on LinkedIn for updates on news, events and his podcast, or contact him at info@donaldthompson.com for executive coaching, speaking engagements or DEI-related content.