How can you effectively select participants for a leadership development program?

Allow people to self-select into leader development programs. Pushing people into them because of a role they hold is far less effective and often a waste of time and money. People who seek out their own development are far more successful at it than others.

Look for people with a growth mindset who want to develop--not people you want to "fix." Effective development is done with people, not to them. Their investment in the program is as important as whatever is in the curriculum. And think about starting the process early. By the time someone is promoted to a "leadership position," it's a little late.

As a manager-turned-management educator, rather than a leadership development consultant, I always liked David Marquet's comment from Turn the Ship Around: “We had no need of leadership development programs; the way we ran the ship was the leadership development program.” I should add to this that the Center for Creative Leadership found that there were three overlapping types of experience which seemed to be most important to the development of effective executives: 1. challenging assignments 2. significant bosses (often flawed!) 3. hardships All of which suggests that you cannot separate formal leadership development programs from the experiences available in the enterprise.

Getting, gaining, defining and aligning on clear objectives is the first and most critical step. Which arrow do you pull to hit a target when you’re not sure what the target is, where it is, why it’s there or what you’re aiming for? Getting clear clear clear on the what, why, how, when, where, who, to, from can then influence and impact all other steps (i.e., skills, candidates, upskilling path, milestones, etc.). This also enables progress measurement against those clear objectives.

At Durham University, possibly in common with others in the education sector, when I select for leadership programs, I go for three As: ability, attitude and aspiration. The program is built around people who have the hunger, skill and potential to succeed. It’s aspiration for themselves yet critically for the organisations and stakeholders they serve, and the teams they work with.

The selection criteria for potential candidates could be laid in three cohorts. 1. Self-nomination is a nomination that has an appeal of why he/she would want to participate in the program. This confirms the hunger to learn, and grow; and depicts the attitude. 2. Performance: Referring to KPIs, if the candidate is meeting expectations or exceeding. Performance can be an input towards the ability of the individual. 3. Manager & team input: feedback on the behavior of the candidate.

It is crucial to consider the career development plans of potential participants. To maximize the program's impact, it is essential to select candidates who exhibit the drive and motivation needed for success in their roles. Individuals with a strong intrinsic motivation to excel not only ensure a higher likelihood of completing the program but also contribute to the overall success of the organization. This commitment to choosing candidates with the right mindset and determination reinforces the effectiveness of the leadership development program, creating a win-win situation for both the participants and the organization.

In my work of attracting cancer patients into our leadership programs, I appeal with a subtle message: not everyone is selected for leadership. "You are special" if you choose to join our 1) community of patients, and 2) engage in leadership development and training. We vet for past efforts in patient support and personal commitment to Servant Leadership.

I found that some managers may be the last to ask to nominate the candidates as they are afraid to lose their best people to promotions. Though it is not a common practice, I would suggest asking peers who would they prefer to be their manager. You gain two things, you learn who people look up to (a natural leader) and find honest, grateful, and humble people who support their peers, and their attitude demonstrates that they can be good candidates too.

In many cases, I found that the candidates are asked to reach out to other people for evaluation. That is not always helpful as their choice may be biased.

In my experience, the motivation and commitment of the candidates are very important. This benefits not only them, but also the other participants in the programme. People who take part in personal development programmes should therefore have a strong inner drive to grow and learn.

In my experience leading the launch of a 2000 manager coaching program at Boeing, nailing your communication is key. 1. Executive championship & partnership - aligning with executives in the business is crucial. Lean on leaders in the participant's organization to flow out communications. 2. Lead with opportunity - strike an inspirational tone that connects expected program outcomes with someone's advancement/performance. Make sure your participants are able to answer, "What's in it for me?" 3. Know that your messaging won't work for everybody - consider tweaking messaging for different areas of the business. Additionally, be sure to account for less than 100% uptake of the program offering.

Rather than just selecting participants to invite to a leadership development program, consider developing a culture of leadership development. Everyone has the potential to increase in their capacities of purposeful influence and service. Let’s include everyone, and within that culture call people up through invitations that align with who they are and specific areas we want to arrive at collectively. By building self awareness, self leadership, and development of our influence in the service of others, we can strengthen leadership in every level and create a place where everyone is empowered and has the opportunity to develop in their leadership capabilities.

The Old Testament God expresses it most effectively: "I am more interested in your availability than your suitability." The key is to first identify individuals passionate about the mission requiring leadership, then shortlist them based on more tangible measures. Unfortunately in many situations we do the other way.

Leadership programs should be built in layers. I think that the first layer should be opened to all new employees as an onboarding program that is designed to identify the most likely people who will be eligible for the next layer of leadership program dependent on future performance and behavior. Building solid data throughout the lifespan of an employee can provide the necessary information to support personal leadership development to address personal needs for strengthening the core strengths of each individual