Home | Business
Have you ever been involved in a leadership development program that got rave reviews? And then did management say, OK we trained them, wheres the evidence that the money and time we invested was worth it? Most of us understand that management has an urgent need for an immediate impact on the bottom line. However we also know that their expectations are unrealistic. While world-class workshops and gifted presenters can instill important concepts, they cantby themselvesproduce permanent changes in on-the-job behavior. But why does management expect something theyre not likely to achieve? Perhaps because they dont understand what it takes to ingrain a new behavior. What does it take? Well, to change a pattern of behavior, which is what youre trying to do, you have to make changes in the learners brain. Yes, in the brain! You see, the brain has billions of brain cells, and all of them are connected to each other in layers. All these interconnected neurons energize pathways of thought and action that are very much like the hardwiring on a computer chip. These pathways execute a leaders habits, skills and behavior patterns. Heres how skills get ingrained in the brain. First, when you perform an action over and over, this stimulates tiny filaments on brain cells, called dendrites, to grow until they connect with other brain cells. With enough repetition, all the related neurons will be connected to form a pathway that triggers the skill. This doesnt happen overnight. Or even during a weeklong leadership training program. Leadership skills are complex and hard to learn. And its a lot more challenging to do these skills in the workplace than it is in the classroom. For a long time, doing so wont feel comfortable or natural. So your learners might try a couple of times, but when their efforts fall short, theyll get frustrated, discouraged and impatient. Caught up in the fast pace of work, most of them will be tempted to fall back on their old, comfortable patterns. So what do you think will happen then? You know the answer. The key to behavior change is that it takes lots of repetition of the new skill. It takes at least several months to form the new pathway. And establishing that new pathway is crucial. Sure, you can make yourself go through the steps of a skill, but thats not the same as skill mastery. If you want the new skill to feel comfortable and natural, if you want it to be the automatic, preferred way of doing something, you need to do the work to establish the pathway. Were not talking about growing new brain cells. Were talking about reconnecting the ones youve already got. And once new pathways are connected, theyre virtually permanent. Thats why they say, Old habits die hard. So you can teach old dogs new tricks. Learning isnt just for the young. You can master a new skill well into maturity. You can grow a new pathway even when youre ninety. Some tough questions for you: Once learners are back in the workplace, will they keep on using the new skills long enough to ingrain them? Will they even be given a chance to use them? If so, will they be held accountable for applying them on the job? Who will support and coach them? The bottom lineif participants dont persist in applying their new skills for several months, you can forget permanent changes in behavior. Senior managers need to understand that when the training ends, the learning process is just beginning. They need to appreciate that reinforcement is the very essence of skill development. Training may do a great job of introducing the skill, but skill mastery comes from applying the skill in the workplace. It takes months of on-the-job application to ingrain a new leadership skill. During that time, learners will need ongoing feedback and supportive coachingand being held accountable for learning the new skills. In addition to an extended period of reinforcement after training, your leadership development program will need to incorporate initiatives such as these: - Integrate assessment, training and reinforcement technologies - Involve senior management to empower changes - Prepare managers to function as performance coaches - Design training programs based on results-based needs assessment - Incorporate strategies for learning transfer - Establish peer coaching networks - Support follow-up through the "Learning Triangle" - Measure performance improvement and calculate ROI - Align organizational policies and practices to support and encourage using the skills So executives actually can realize their great expectations! If they will support this kind of structured follow-up reinforcement, your organization can achieve the elusive Holy Grail of leadership development: permanent improvements in performance. All these initiatives are embodied in Train-to-Ingrain, which integrates assessment, training and reinforcement into an extended learning process. It's a systems-based, reinforcement-intensive approach to leadership development that engages all the key players to close the performance gaps that affect business results.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
Search This Site
Top Authors Most Popular Articles Submission Guidelines Ezine Notifications Article RSS Feeds About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Powered by Article Dashboard
