Executive leadership sits behind a wheel. It’s not a tangible or visible wheel, yet it drives the direction of an organization and its culture.
Executives leverage their experience, intelligence, people skills, and fearlessness to lead others. It’s an honor to be an executive who leads their people with ambition and passion.
If an executive leader is supposed to be fearless, why is it that many CEOs and C-Suite leaders fear failure? In fact, 90 percent of CEOs possess a fear of failure beyond all else.
If you’re an executive that finds yourself worried or losing sleep over the possibility of failing, then you should enroll in executive leadership training. Many CEOs attend executive leadership training to help eliminate their fears and boost their confidence so that they can better focus their time and effort.
It’s about making a positive impact on your organization.
If you think that leadership training can help you or a colleague, you’ll want to make sure that you get the most out of it before you sign up. Here are some learning tips we recommend for getting the most out of an executive training program.
Executive Leadership Training That Sticks
A recent study says that 55 percent of CEOs see leadership development as a top challenge for them.
If you are going to invest your time in leadership training, you want the training to be something you can maintain and execute upon. This means you’ll want the right components in place, including support from both leadership and employees. It also helps if you have the right tools.
If you are concerned that it will give you a lot of good information, yet you won’t be able to remember it, here is advice on how to help your leadership training stick.
Learning Tips
First, anytime you are learning something new, it is a continuous process. Cramming, even repetition, won’t lead to the change you are seeking overnight.
What you learn in your executive leadership training is something that starts in class, but it does not end there. It helps to think of it like this: the classes are for understanding new concepts, therefore learning begins after class is over, and that is where the effort kicks in.
Adapting a new skill in your career is a lot like training to build your muscles. One conditioning class will not transform you into a bodybuilder. You can’t enter a triathlon after joining a cycling class only two times.
Training for a marathon, like leadership, takes time.
Build Upon Your Executive Leadership Skills
There needs to be a consistent effort to train your leadership skills (like muscles). Remember, that’s how the human brain works. To learn any new skill, you must work at it consistently.
The longer you apply your executive leadership training, the stronger you will become. Effort forms executive leadership development. Practice does too.
You may wish for instant results, yet unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
Avoid Cramming
Cramming isn’t practical for learning in the long run. That’s why we recommend you space out your executive leadership training. It’s good to take in pieces of information over time and not overwhelm yourself with too much that you can’t remember.
To take this approach, break up the learning sessions. This helps for steady reinforcement.
We also recommend beginning learning in advance. If you know what the topic is for your next class, do a little research at home, or work, and come to your next class prepared with a little background.
Take Time to Reflect
After you learn an additional part of the executive leadership skills, it’s good to take some quiet time for yourself to reflect. Give the information consideration separate from everyone else. Taking in the new information helps you connect with its meaning.
John C. Maxell said it best when he said, “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”
What Matters Most
The results of a recent study found that participants of a leadership training program improved their performance by 20 percent and their learning capacity by 25 percent. One method to get the most out of executive leadership training is by what you refer to as “distillation.”
When you are in leadership training, distilling means you focus on the pieces of information and concepts that matter most to you. Remembering every word is difficult. However, the critical take always helps you improve your leadership skills.
As you are learning, when you hear or read something of value or meaning, write it down. Review it again after class. When you find that something resonates with you, then it will stick.
A Changing Business Landscape
It’s no secret that The Great Resignation has altered the business landscape. As of December 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that almost 4.3 million workers in the U.S. quit their current job. Also, from January to November 2021, approximately 1,200 CEOs abandoned their posts.
Reports from Apollo Technical also say that only about 11 percent of HR leaders think their bench is strong enough to take on leadership roles as they become open. Combining this issue with The Great Resignation, executives and CEOs have an uphill battle to fight.
Don’t let the changes to the job market and economy cause you concern, however. What you need is powerful executive leadership training to build brilliant leaders in your organization.
Ready to Start Executive Leadership Training?
A leadership and communication incubator, Excelerate helps executives every day to be more strategic and perform at their highest levels. Imagine the results your business will reap from our leadership training and practice.
If you want to lead at your highest level, you need to contact us. At Excelerate, we are experts in executive leadership training, and we specialize in helping your leaders be more effective and boost confidence. Reach out today and begin your journey toward doing a better job leading right now.
