Leadership development is a strategic process aimed at enhancing employees' leadership skills for future management roles. Modern programs focus on developing a wider range of employees and emphasize practical mentoring, clear goal setting, communication, and accountability. Effective leadership development enhances talent retention, boosts productivity, and drives organizational strategy while fostering a supportive workplace culture.

1. Leadership
Development
How to create a successful
leadership development
program

2. What is leadership development?
Leadership development is a strategic process designed to
help employees develop their leadership skills and
competencies to prepare them for management and
leadership roles within the organisation.

3. Leadership development programs
LDPs are structured plans designed to help your employees
develop the critical skills they require for success in their
careers by providing the necessary guidance and knowledge.

4. What’s changed?
In today’s world, development efforts are no longer centred
around senior executives, meaning traditional programs are no
longer the cutting edge of leadership training.

5. If you don’t develop leadership?
Poor or no leadership development can negatively impact
employee retention, decrease productivity, and hinder the
organisation's ability to meet strategic goals.
Bad leadership can result in high turnover rates, decreased
productivity and an ineffective strategy, ultimately harming the
organisation’s bottom line.

6. Leadership
Development
Benefits

8. Attract & Retain Talent
Not only does offering career progression make it easier to
attract new talent, but it also means existing talent is more
likely to stay knowing that they’ll have the opportunity to
develop leadership skills.

9. Improve Financial Performance
Leadership development initiatives can increase employee
engagement, leading to cost savings on recruitment and
onboarding, as well as improved productivity.

10. Drive Strategy
When you develop leaders, they’ll have the ability to drive
your organisation’s strategy execution. With an LDP, you’ll
have more employees outside of management with
leadership capabilities navigating change and stepping up to
any challenges your business faces.

11. Increase Productivity
Driving employee engagement will increase motivation
among your staff and encourage them to motivate others.
Having a productive workforce that is engaged in their work
is only going to increase business success.

12. Train Future Leaders
Leadership development programs provide employees with
the capacity to become senior leaders, foster leadership
development in the workplace and support succession
planning.

13. Culture
Leadership development initiatives can increase employee
engagement, leading to cost savings on recruitment and
onboarding, as well as improved productivity.

14. Essential LDP
Building
Blocks

16. Coaching & Training
Theory is helpful, but practical mentoring is what will really
cement leadership concepts in the minds of your learners.
Your employees will benefit from having a coach who can
give them perspective on the leadership roles and what
they entail.

17. Milestones/Goals/Achievements
Defining clear goals and milestones is essential for any
leadership development program. It not only sets
expectations for the program but also provides employees
with clear objectives to work towards.
Goals and milestones need to be challenging yet achievable
and continually evolve.

18. Accountability
By fostering a culture of responsibility and innovation,
leaders can create an environment where team members
are empowered to take ownership of their work and strive
towards shared goals.
It’s important to avoid drifting into a micromanaging
mentality.

19. Communication
Leaders must be able to communicate their expectations
clearly and effectively to team members, while also being
open to feedback and able to collaborate with others.
Effective communication helps to build trust and
transparency.

20. Support
Employees are more likely to be invested in their learning
and development if they know that their bosses and
supervisors are supportive and invested in their success.
This can help to build a positive workplace culture where
employees feel valued and encouraged to take on new
challenges.

21. You can learn more about this
topic by checking out the full
article:
https://acornlms.com/enterprise-learning-
management/leadership-development