This document provides lessons and best practices for leadership development during difficult economic times. It emphasizes maintaining a strategic focus on leadership development by linking it to business goals, building a culture of ongoing development, and setting up leadership programs for long-term success rather than as isolated events. Specific tactics discussed include leveraging programs in key business areas, partnering with other organizations, and finding cost-effective ways to deliver programs through online and train-the-trainer approaches. The overall message is that leadership development can help organizations navigate tough times by inspiring employees and preparing leaders for future challenges.

1. Strategic Leadership
Development
Keeping The Wheels on The Wagon in Tough Times
• Lessons from the current / last recession
• Mindset for leadership development
• Research / Best Practice roll-up
• Real examples - leadership / development
• Tactical ideas to do more with less

2. Presenters
David Parks Julie Henry
VP of Business Development Marketing Manager

3. Audience Poll
Who’s with us today?
Please tell us your organizational function?
HR / Training 61%
Line / Business 32%
Other 7%

4. When was the last time
you faced a major Learning Point
CRISIS?
Maybe we should think of leadership
training as crisis training. Take the
military or firefighters – both are
training intensive professions where
they spend all their time preparing
for that moment of crisis. This is
Year? their leadership moment – when all
their skills and training are called
Event? upon. Call to reframe thinking about
leadership development as key to
dealing with a crisis.
. . . . . and the current one does not count.

5. Learning Point
In the last downturn (2001), Sun totally axed leadership development
whereas Cisco continued. Sun was our #1 client, Cisco was #2. Cisco
focused leadership development in areas of leverage - Sales and
international markets. They actively sought to steal market share whilst
other companies were hunkering down in a place of fear.

6. Learning Point
Bluepoint was birthed as a
result of the last downturn.
Leadership development
linked to the business goal
is key.
Igniting the passion
and accelerating the development of leaders.

7. Ravaged by
fire
Learning Point
This is how the business climate felt
in Q4 2008.

8. Frozen with
fear
Learning Point
This is how the business climate felt
in Q1 2009.

9. Audience Poll
Has your training budget been cut?
Drastically 23%
Moderately 48%
No Cuts 27%
Increase 2%

10. 23% Already Cut
Watson Wyatt, Dec 18, 2008 Report.
Effect of the Economic Crisis on HR Programs.
Learning Point
Leadership development is under pressure to do more with less.

11. Learning Point
Reframe your thinking – this
could b your leadership
moment. Take stock of past,
present and future. Your job
is to lead to the new future
and provide hope and
inspiration.
A crisis is a terrible
opportunity to waste

12. The reason training Learning Point
Research highlighted to say
“just don’t make the same
Fails mistakes again.” Lets learn
from the past and be
strategic.
- Regarded as an isolated event.
- Participants not held accountable for results.
- Failure to prepare the job environment to support transfer.
- Failure to isolate the effects of training.
- Lack of commitment and involvement of executives.
- Failure to provide feedback and use information about results.
Phillips and Phillips ROI Institute – failure in the postcourse environment

13. Too Dumb To Be True
Leadership Development Programs
blog posting June 4, 2009
Learning Point Dan McCarthy
Calling out some of the silly decisions around leadership development. Dan
“There are a lot of charlatans out there selling crap
is Director of Leadership at PayChex. Don’t fall prey to this.
like this and calling it leadership or team development.
There are a lot of incompetent HR and Training
departments all too willing to buy and promote this
stuff and other bad ideas.
There are a lot of desperate and gullible managers
”
www.GreatLeadershipByDan.com
looking for silver bullets.

14. Mindset For
Leadership

15. Learning Point
Real E-Mails Unfortunately these real e-mails illustrate
prevalent negative thinking . It is going to take a
different mindset to get things going.
The organization has gone through some changes like layoffs, re-orgs
etc. As a result of those processes, Leadership Development is down and
the focus has been on compliance. At some point that will
change but there is no way to predict. Will let you know when it does.
Unfortunately, we don't anticipate a robust season of leadership
development in the near future but we do occasionally have in-tact groups looking
for training recommendations.
Unfortunately with the dismal state of the economy and budget outlook
there is little hope of obtaining expensive leadership training at
this point. However, one never knows how things might change in the
future.

16. “Getting close to customers is
the smartest investment [sales]
leaders can make right now.
Understanding the
challenges your
customers are facing
will help you uncover
new opportunities.”
Sam Reese, President & CEO, Miller Heiman
Learning Point
Leadership development needs to get close to its internal customers.

17. Research Roll-Up
• Bersin – High Impact Leadership Dev
• Linkage - Best Practice Summit
• Hewitt – How The Top 20 Companies Grow Great Leaders
• Great Place To Work Institute
• Kotter – Leading Change
• ROI Institute
• Institute for Executive Development

18. Keeping The
Wheels On
• Business Driven
• Build A Culture of Development
• Set Up For Success
• Value Equation
• Make Meetings An Opportunity
• Your Purpose

19. Stop Start
Business Driven
• Leverage
• Linkages
• Why Leadership / Why Now?

20. Leverage = Sales
Part 1. Essentials of Sales Management
Part 2. Sales Leader As Coach
Data Driven Demand
Learning Point
Focus Leadership Dev on areas where you can get leverage and a
business result. Illustrated using GE’s Sales Leader As Coach.

21. Build A Culture of
Development
• Drive
• Support
• Own

22. The Leadership Challenge Workshop Facilitator‘s Guide®, Third Ed., Rev. Copyright © 2006 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com

23. Leadership is not a quick fix
but an ongoing discipline:
• Empower your people and hold
them accountable
• Rise above day to day to keep
long term perspective
• Have positive passion. People
look to their leaders in times of
uncertainty.
Learning Point
This is a CEO who really gets it and steps up his
leadership in the tough times.
Ray Davis, CEO speaks on:
Navigating In A Challenging Economic Environment

24. Downturn
Survivor
Be Distinct or
Extinct Tom Peters
Learning Point
New York & Co are in one of the toughest hit sectors – Retail. They have not cut their
leadership development. This series is alive and well. Contention that embedded
programs set up as a series are less likely to get cut (unlike flavor of the month
approach).

25. Set Up for Success
• Right Programs
• Done Right
• It’s a Process

26. Bigger Impact
at the Enterprise Level
- April Launch
- 2 ½ days
- Follow-up
Application Coaching Learning Point
Courageous client who made the decision
½ day refresher in January when the world was frozen. Set
up as a comprehensive and strategic
development platform.

27. Learning Point
Just be a little careful about migrating to online to save money.
“If you ever want to be a leader,
being online is fine but
being there is imperative.”
Jack & Suzy Welch
The Welchway Column
June 29, 2009

28. Questions?

29. Value Equation
• Rationalize
• Partner
• Savvy

30. “Why can’t we just
agree on a single
approach to
leadership.”
“Well, I want
“I want Covey’s”
Blanchard’s
stuff”

31. Getting More For Less
• Rationalize
- every program should pay it’s way
- opportunity to simplify
- take advantage of YouTube
• Partner
- fewer suppliers and better terms
- cost share with other companies
Learning Point
• Savvy Calls attention to some of the
irregular buying behavior of
- reduce time leadership development and how
- ‘smart’ online smart clients can actually do more
with less budget.
- venue choices
- trend to train-the-trainer

32. Every Meeting is
an Opportunity
• Catalyst
• Connect
• Inspire

33. “we need to
reignite the
emotional
attachment with
our customers.”
10,000 managers - New Orleans
"to reinvigorate the passion within
the company," Learning Point have just got to bring people
Sometimes you
together to create breakthrough / advance.

34. Your assignment is to
search for
Mitch Spolan Video
Learning Point
April 2009 – All Hands Mtg
Great illustration of passionate leadership in action. Check out the video.

35. Your Purpose
• PSF
• Execution
• Legacy

36. What if you heard these words?
“We’re thinking about closing
your department!
To help us make the best possible decision
please prepare a business plan and select a
half dozen internal clients to vouch for your
service.”
Learning Point
This is the kind of mindset that will help lift your game as an internal provider of
leadership development. Would people buy your services?

37. “to help everyone be
financially fit.”
Jay Allen, EVP HR
Learning Point
Connecting to a bigger purpose. What is
your bigger purpose? Get crystal clear
on “why leadership and why now.”

38. “Survivor syndrome is one of the
main problems during recessions.
Organizations focus on the ones
that are losing their jobs, and
tend to forget about the ones
that have survived the cuts.”
Professor Lynda Grattan, London Business School
Learning Point Times 2/20/09
Financial
Leadership development can be integral to the creation of a healthy and vital culture
after cuts have been made.

39. Learning Point
Being her true
They came into my
authentic leader-
like self was
what made office and said:
Barbara shine
during a tough
“we wish we
time of layoffs.
had been laid
off by you!”
Barbara Murray
Formerly with DHL and now
Group Director, Organizational
Development and Learning
Ryder Logistics & Transportation
Solutions Worldwide

40. My vision:
“that the
work we do
is good
Stop enough to be
written up in
HBR.”
David Parks
Bluepoint Leadership Development

41. In Summary
• Business Driven
• Build A Culture of Development
• Set Up For Success
• Value Equation
• Make Meetings An Opportunity
• Your Purpose

42. Blue po int’s Aug us t Webinar
The Leader Speaks
Learn how to make a significant difference
through the power of your own voice
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Gregg Thompson 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST
davidparks@bluepointleadership.com
juliehenry@bluepointleadership.com
www.bluepointleadership.com