A group of partners at a professional services firm wanted to improve their relationship building and business development skills. Although they had been very successful, they believed they could do more.

What happened in the Leader Forum?

Well, we didn’t love it right away. We were critical. It’s what we do for our clients: see problems. But over time, it started to really gel. My thinking really shifted. This isn’t, “Go ahead, train me.” The Forum really required each of us to show up, think differently, take a different level of responsibility, and hold ourselves and one another accountable. It’s also a lot of fun.

Why did you choose a Leader Forum instead of more traditional training?

We initially talked to a bunch of firms who offered training and were pretty underwhelmed. No one seemed to really get us or offer a particularly thoughtful approach. Our partners are senior folks. We needed to work with people who were really peers and approached the work from that peer perspective. The year-long timeframe and coaching style of the Leader Forum have really matched the way we wanted to learn and change behaviors.

We’ve seen some real shifts in how the partners approach their relationships and business development work. There’s more thought behind it. We’re more systematic. We each have a much better sense of where to focus, what we’re good at, and what’s likely to generate positive results.

The relationships that have developed among our team through the Forum have been good, as well. We’ve had some really good conversations on some important topics that we might not have had otherwise.

What’s next?

We’re going to do at least another year with the first group of partners. Even though we get pushed, and it takes a fair amount of time and energy, everyone’s insistent we keep it going. We’re also going to offer a similar Forum to our partner candidates next year. We think it will make a big difference, and it’s an important investment in their development as leaders.

Leadership ability doesn’t just happen.

Organizations need a corps of capable, confident, and flexible leaders. Effective leadership requires skills that go significantly beyond subject matter expertise. While individuals may pick up some of these skills through experience or ad hoc learning, they are far more likely to master them if they engage in a process of deliberate, individual, and ongoing learning in an environment of trust and support.

This is what happens in Leader Forums.

Leader Forums combine the best of individual leadership coaching, team coaching, and workshops in a way that supports individual, team, and organizational leadership goals for a group of leaders. The Forums are customized to each organization’s culture and real-time challenges.

Leader Forums provide a structure that helps leaders:

  • Create an ongoing opportunity, separate from their day-to-day responsibilities and tasks, to evaluate, understand, and work proactively on their own leadership
  • Collaborate in problem solving, using a variety of perspectives
  • Read about, discuss, and learn best practices in leadership
  • Strengthen skills in specific areas critical to the organization
  • Build productive relationships with peers
  • Define and carry out individual leadership development plans
  • Develop and refine nascent leadership skills that already exist within themselves
  • Create a community of positive support, feedback, and accountability with fellow participants
  • Sustain learning over time

A typical Leader Forum involves 8-12 leaders at a similar level in the organization who get together every month or two over the course of a year to learn about leadership, share experiences, take risks, hear different perspectives, practice new skills, and become better leaders. Leader Forums focus on identifying, demystifying, and improving core leadership skills. They combine what participants know, on some level, about leadership with external content and others’ experiences, through a process of facilitated conversation. The learning mechanisms include individual self-assessment and action plans, group discussions and sharing experiences, practical exercises, and group and individual coaching.

The focus is on discovery, engagement, exploration, practice, and feedback, not on dense content delivery. The group works with participants’ real challenges and opportunities. This is not a “class.” The goal is to help leaders collaborate, learn, and achieve objectives they define for themselves, not download a lot of content.