Teri Abbo-Sutherland

I think what's more important than your specialized skills is what the team needs are. If you don't possess the skill, let your team know that you are working on improving and developing in that area, and ask for feedback as you implement new ideas. Be sure that you have a way to measure progress for yourself and your team. If you're not comfortable being vulnerable, consult or peer with someone outside of your organization who have had similar challenges with the team dynamics you are experiencing and ask for suggestions.

The most important aspect is to determine what the goal of the training is and how you plan to measure its effectiveness. It is understood that adult learners must have the opportunity to immediate apply new skills. Therefore, if there is no strategic alignment or task that can support the effort you want to invest in, there is probably little to no return on investment for the professional development budget being spent.

It's very important to support time away from the daily routine. For high achievers remind them that it's recommended to ancor a Friday and Monday to create an extended weekend, or select a few days a month to clear their calendar at 3pm and step away. Encourage them to talk about the things they enjoy, or even what they feel they've been missing out on? Ask if they need to get to the store or a few appointments, and follow up after a few days to talk about the time they will take off. Most importantly, if you are in a leadership role demonstrate that you honor personal time so your teams will see that you truly honor what you say.

It's natural to have feelings that are discouraging and feel personal, but it is important to balance the conversations with the facts that contributed to the failure. 1. Write out lessons learned and ask your teams to do the same- brief points that contribute to the overall outcome. 2. Prepare a brief SWOT analysis and seek out glimmers in the success and opportunities blocks upon reflection. 3. It is important to talk through your feelings with someone neutral (outside of the organization) and someone within who also worked on the project. Work through these items quickly, because you have to be resilient and keep your teams moving forward to create a workable solution until a new opportunity is discovered/created.

I like to have an initial conversation (limited based on the nature of the issue) where are all ideas are presented and we have to exhaust all the options provided. There are no limitations discussed. We will pause (when the issue affords it) to allow the deep thinkers time to process. Then, we meet again and walk though each concept utilizing the IDEAL problem solving model. Assessing the magnitude of the issue that requires a solution, the complexity of issue, determining if the organization possesses the skill set to address the problem, and then select a starting point to begin work. We reevaluate several times as the work progresses to determine if we continue or work on other ideas.

Leadership development can be supported in several ways. In the situation described, most often there is a need to ask the employee to reflect, share and discuss the ways in which they feel they contribute to the strategic goals of the organization. The next step is to show support and encourage additional ways that you see this person contributing as a trusted advisor. After that, encouraging and empowering them to make decisions that you acknowledge as issues you trust them to handle. Finally, discuss the items that out of scope and the time path and decision tree required to support policy and compliance within the organization or industry.