Leadership and Professional Development

Even though I am known for my organizational effectiveness work, I spend a considerable amount of time doing leadership and professional development work.

Organizational effectiveness entails strategic planning, planning for change, planning new learning and knowledge management systems, and a host of other large-scale efforts. All of these grand plans must be implemented by people. A plan is worthless unless it is successfully implemented.

Thus, leadership and professional development are critical to organizational effectiveness. In organizational design theory we use the terms "line" and "staff." The line makes the products or provides the services. The staff supports the line workers. Don't confuse the term "line workers" with an assembly line. Every organization has a line. The organization’s core competencies are found in the line workers. The staff positions, which can be more easily outsourced, have only one purpose: to support the line workers.

Leadership development is focused on those executives and managers who are responsible for overseeing the work of the line. The executives and managers in the organization are responsible for leading the work of the line workers. This requires a set of skills that should be systematically assessed and developed.

Professional development is focused on those highly trained professionals who are responsible for supporting the line workers. These staff workers are in-house professionals. At some point in time, the organization's leaders decided to have these functions performed in-house. These staff professional positions (which can be outsourced, if a better source becomes available) include attorneys, accountants, financial analysts, IT professionals, HR professionals, trainers, etc.

As an independent consultant, I have helped many organizations with their leadership and professional assessment and development functions. This is no doubt a valuable service. But, organizational leaders themselves must take the responsibility for the performance management function.

Performance management (PM) involves more than performance appraisal. PM requires managers who can help subordinates with goal setting, individual development plan writing, and guidance counseling.

Does your organization have a leadership and professional development system that effectively handles assessment, development, and performance management?

For more information about leadership and professional development read Chapter 6 of my book, "Strategic Organizational Learning."