Leadership training

The theories and practices developed within military training establishments are equally applicable to any group, large or small, for which leadership is required rather than management. Once leadership is fully understood, the ´great man´ and ´conventional wisdom´ theories can be used to develop a leadership-training scheme. The key to any leadership training scheme is the development of the inherent ´good´ qualities a person possesses. This article exposes those areas that are fundamental to the development of our leaders and which are: establishment of a common vocabulary and a context in which to place the leadership discussion and an understanding of what leadership is about; the need for an organisation to be clear on its vision, mission and values; the identification of those leadership qualities required within your organisation and then raising the self-awareness of the people involved; that leadership is a development journey, which never ends, starting at the tactical level, then operational and then strategic and that any training scheme must be holistic in its approach and go from cradle to grave; and that leaders need to be given the tools to do the job, to allow them to make decisions based on knowledge and not the seat of their pants. This allows a training package to be produced which covers these key areas: the context; basic theories; self-awareness; practical consolidation; on the job training; and coaching and mentoring.