Leadership development is a systematic approach to expanding the performance capability of individuals in leadership roles within your organization. And like any approach, it's not achieved through a single stage or step but rather through a journey. This journey is the process of leadership development.
There is no single best way to lead. And there are a wide variety of leadership models that may each serve as well as the next. However, the systematic approach to leadership development has proven successful for many companies, working toward a set of preferred outcomes through a broad range of approaches to thought leadership. Unlike other approaches, it takes into account the differing expectations of leaders as well as unique organizational practices to create a system that allows them (and the organization as a whole) to function at peak efficiency.

Developing the Leaders Through Business Insight

Leadership roles are those positions within an organization that advance the implementation of business strategy by building alignments, winning mindshare and growing the capabilities of all employees. These roles may be formal, allowing the manager to make decisions and take responsibility, or informal, possessing little official authority while still holding a level of influence among co-workers and peers, like a team leader or similar lateral peer who listens and negotiates through interpersonal influence.

Therefore the practices of leadership development can extend to any individual that fits this supervisorial definition - practices that often consist of the following activities:

Core Competency Mapping

A clear understanding of the components related to effective leadership for management positions is crucial for effective succession planning. Therefore, a thorough competency map can be extremely useful to the members of your organization when they're trying to determine where to focus their development efforts. Mapping leadership attributes also helps you identify and understand the specific leadership behaviors entailed in each organizational competency. This understanding will allow you to easily asses and develop your leadership candidates using the appropriate attributes.

Individual and Organizational Assessment

provides a comprehensive 360-degree assessment to inform individual managers and supervisors about their specific leadership attributes, focusing on both strengths and weaknesses. In addition, it's vital for leaders to understand the organization and context within which they lead. So this stage should also include the specifics of how the organization provides value to its customers, the organization's unique culture and how the leader is expected to function within the organization.

Leadership Development Plan and Training

leaders collaborate with upper management on a preliminary plan related to his or her individual development, documenting goals and any foreseeable obstacles that would impede success. You may then provide in-house or external workshops to teach the basics of leadership in a utility organization, focusing specifically on your organization's particular values.

As Aristotle once said, "we learn by doing." And experiential learning has been shown to provide the greatest rate of success for transforming potential candidates into high-functioning leaders. Within this process, emerging leaders are provided the opportunity to develop their aptitude and proficiency, enabling them to build their level of leadership competence in a safe environment, typically outside the presence of subordinates.

One popular method of providing this type of leadership development is the offering of mentorship to leadership trainees.