Today, there seems to be a clear movement in viewing leadership and leadership development not only in terms of leader attributes, skills and traits, but in terms of specific competencies related to leadership.
In many organizations, leadership competencies have even become the core dimension of leadership development activities. This has resulted in the definition of a host of competencies that are well defined. This trend has also given root to formal programs such as masters in organizational leadership programs at several leading universities.
Competencies
A 2004 study found that leading-edge companies define leadership by a set of competencies. These are now used to guide leadership development at all levels. By the same token, a majority of organizations have, on their own, identified and defined the characteristics and qualities of successful leaders. The question now at hand is this: How then are competencies used in a most effective way in leadership development?
Strategies and business models
In the recent past, leadership development programs that were put into action had not been successful in effecting positive changes. This caused a change in perspective among designers of leadership programs. Organizations began to develop leaders and leadership competencies that matched and were specific to their particular business culture and model. Leadership competencies were then designed to correspond to what were regarded as the best practices for the business model in use by a particular organization.
To further complicate matters, leadership development programs often had to be tailored to the needs of an individual. Since all leaders do not possess all the leadership characteristics encapsulated in the leadership model to an equal degree. Each person has their own unique strengths and weaknesses as related to leadership.
Some leadership models simply state that leaders should not be accountable for their particular set of competencies, rather, they are to be held responsible only for the desired outcomes. This is the leadership development model that is in vogue today. You can learn more about this model if you purse a masters degree in organizational leadership.
This type of model goes far beyond specific individual competencies. The competencies have a tendency to focus on what needs to be altered rather than attention on the whole person.
Additionally, emphasis is placed on the individual's innate strengths and abilities, rather than on specific competencies. Today, leadership development is viewed as leveraging your strengths and minimizing the impact of weaknesses.
Health and leadership
Well-being and individual health at work are also brought out as issues of growing interest and attention, including their relevance to leadership. On question to consider is the ongoing stress of continual change and competition at work. Managing stress and personal life to avoid individual burn out are also becoming additional factors to integrate in leadership development. On recognized factor is that a leader who stays physically fit, but incorporating an exercise routine into their daily life, is usually more effective in the long run.
Work and personal life
Another challenge for leadership development that steers away from standard competencies is the competing demands of career and personal life. It was also recognized that an individual's personal and business lives are not mutually exclusive, with each having a dramatic impact on the other.
Currently, there is a need to understand which factors about organizational life are challenged by the concept of work and personal life integration. There is also a need to identify those organizational changes that will be more conducive to the successful integration of work with an individual's personal life.
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