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6 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills for Research

by Jamie Vernon | Jul 16, 2019

High school and undergraduate students: You are a leader of your own time, and need to take responsibility for completing the steps necessary to finish projects.

Graduate students: You are managing research projects, working in teams, sharing your results, and seeking research mentors. Some of you will teach and lead lesson plans for students.

Postdocs: You must take ownership of projects, establish collaborations, seek funding opportunities, and lead teams.

Professors and More Professional Career Paths: You are leading projects, teams, and labs; motivating and educating your team members; and communicating your research findings.

Picking one or two of the following leadership skills to develop will be a solid start in making you a more competitive and productive researcher.

Communication: One of the most important things I’ve learned about leadership is that communication is key. Leaders must be able to clearly articulate their goals and expectations to their teams and stakeholders, be open to feedback, recognize the team for successes, and reassure them in failure.

Check out: 7 Secrets for Effective Team Communication from Project Manager

Building relationships: Relationships are about building trust with others so that you have a network that you can use to give and receive support and knowledge. Strong relationships help you work better in teams and find opportunities such as jobs, funding, and mentorship. The biggest challenge for me in developing leadership skills was not having a mentor who had followed a similar career path to mine—exiting academia, taking a fellowship in government, and ultimately joining the nonprofit sector. Try to find a mentor who can help you.

Check out: Transitioning from a Technical Mindset to a Technical Leader Mindset , a two-part workshop at the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting

Strategic thinking: I don’t recall anyone offering training in strategic thinking when I was working in academia, but having a plan in place that defines goals; approaches that you will take to reach those goals; time-bound, measurable objectives that define the desired outcomes; and the tools that you will use to do it all ensures that your team knows your expectations and the plan to get where you need to go.

Check out: Strategic Planning in Research Organizations , from RSM McGladrey, Inc.

Project management: I was inspired to read articles about how to be a more effective project manager when I took a fellowship position in the federal government as a policy analyst. I realized how inefficiently I had managed my research projects the day that I learned about Gantt charts . I’ve also learned that delegation is a necessary part of good project management. To not delegate elicits frustration and self-doubt in team members with specialized skills. Thankfully, new tools abound for keeping our projects on track. I’m currently testing a digital platform called Basecamp . Other platforms are specifically designed for research projects. I recommend that all researchers acquire some formal project management training and I am planning to offer leadership training opportunities to Sigma Xi members.

Check out: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Project Managers from TeamGantt

Project Management for Research from Ohio State University

Project Management Online Training from Coursera

Time management: In academia, I had very little formal training on time management but it’s a critical skill to being efficient and effective in any workplace.

Check out: Time Management Strategies for Research Productivity , from the Western Journal of Nursing Research

Financial discipline: Knowing where to find funding, how to stay within restrictive budgets, and what is required for reporting will help you get the next budget approved.

Check out: Managing Your Lab Budget for Improved Efficiency , from Lab Manager

What helped you develop your leadership skills? Please share your resources, struggles, and successes in the comments below. Sincerely, Jamie L. Vernon, PhD Executive Director and CEO, Sigma Xi Publisher, American Scientist

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Published November 30, 2021
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Leadership Development Research: What Works Best — And What Doesn’t?

Leadership Development Research On What Works — And What Doesn't

Leadership Development Works — We Have Proof — And Here’s How to Do It Most Effectively

Leadership development research points to key benefits of investing in development.

Research attests that effective leadership development drives performance , making a lasting impact on the biggest challenges that organizations face.

But only when it’s done right.

Studies from Bersin by Deloitte, the Conference Board, and our own global research group show that substantial investments in leadership development drive performance. Organizations should know that done well, development gives organizations a competitive advantage, among several key reasons to invest in leadership development .

Leadership development research has found that effective development initiatives yield:

Better bottom-line financial performance.
Ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.
Improved strategy execution.
Increased success in navigating change.

Leadership Development Research: What Works & What Doesn’t?

Avoid these leadership development missteps.

What does it take to earn those benefits? Knowing that there’s a big difference between leadership development solutions that work — and those that don’t — is a critical starting point.

1. Avoid overselling a single workshop, learning module, or book.

One inspiring speaker or big idea shouldn’t replace or short-circuit the hard work of learning and doing. Remember that while new information, ideas, and tools are essential for learning new skills and gaining new perspectives, motivation and boss support are also required for leadership development to have a lasting impact.

2. Don’t expect large-scale change without linking the business strategy and leadership strategy.

Managers, teams, and individual contributors can — and should — build the skills that drive performance, such as communication, influence, and learning agility. But developing individual leaders isn’t the same thing as investing in large-scale, systemic change that enhances and transforms the leadership culture of an entire organization and cultivates the specific leadership skills needed to implement a business strategy. Make sure your organization is linking the business strategy and the leadership strategy together.

3. Resist launching leadership initiatives without senior-level support.

According to leadership development research, this dynamic occurs all too often and undermines the effectiveness of leadership development. It’s essential to have full engagement and visible support and buy-in from senior executives who are committed to modeling effective leadership for the organization and providing the resources for these initiatives. If employees see that leadership development isn’t a top priority for the senior team, they won’t commit to it, either.

Encourage These Proven Actions to Ensure Leadership Development Works

Leadership development research shows that training works best when organizations take the following actions to ensure its success and take intentional steps to maximize the impact of organizational leadership development initiatives.

1. Make leadership development a process, not just an event.

Learning is a process, and leadership development research confirms that development works best when it’s viewed as more than merely a one-time thing.

Leadership development should include formal training — but that’s just one piece of the learning puzzle. You probably know the 70-20-10 framework for leadership development : 10% of learning comes from courses, 20% from other people, and 70% through on-the-job experiences and challenges. This framework is based on our pioneering studies of key events in executives’ lives and highlights the relative impact of 3 types of experiences on their leadership development.

When all 3 areas are factored in, the results are amplified.

The process of self-assessment and thinking about leadership goals is ongoing and should be the starting point for any formal development program, course, or assignment. Strive to connect the content and value of the development to the organizational purpose and situation.

Help people get past the initial awkward phase that usually comes with trying out new skills or behaviors by reinforcing and supporting action learning, coaching and mentoring , peer support, and other approaches.

2. Inform the learning experience with cutting-edge, global research.

Personal stories and leadership experience are often interesting and useful guides for individual leaders. But truly understanding what scaling leadership development looks like at individual, team, organizational, and societal levels starts with data — high-quality research that helps clients understand what their challenges are and serves as the basis for building effective solutions.

Our global research on women’s leadership and leadership across cultures, for example, played a key role in an effort to develop a more diverse pipeline of leaders at industrial technology company Ingersoll Rand . The initiative ultimately increased the retention, performance, and promotions of participants, creating a lasting competitive advantage for Ingersoll Rand.

Similarly, our leadership development research on boundary spanning, change, and strategic leadership strongly informed work with Credicorp, the leading banking institution in Peru, as it pursued aggressive international growth. This initiative linked leadership strategy with Credicorp’s business strategy , leading to an improved stock price and accelerating annual revenues.

3. Connect the learning to on-the-job leadership challenges.

Leaders need to see how a new insight, approach, or behavior change will impact the things that matter most to them.

They want relevance in a general sense (“Oh, of course, I need to improve how I influence my peers.”), but they also need a clear link to their specific challenges ( “Max and I share our technical resources, and it’s not going well. I need to do something different if I’m going to get my part of the product development done on time.” ).

At CCL, in our leadership programs, we ask learners to select a key leadership challenge before engaging in a development experience. This challenge is a real, existing project that aligns with their organization’s strategy and requires new approaches to be successful. It provides a direct link from the workplace to what’s being taught, and a clear reason to practice new skills. It becomes a focal point for learning, and the person knows at the end of the program what they can do next to address their challenge.

Leaders also work with an in-class accountability partner and an at-work learning partner. Peers who have learned together and colleagues who understand the organizational context are powerful resources for linking formal coursework to real-life, strategic work and day-to-day demands.

Access Our Webinar!

Watch our webinar, The Challenges of Scaling Leadership Training , to learn how to build a better workplace culture through scaling development opportunities for employees.

Leadership Development Research Tips to Ensure Retention of Learning

Critics of leadership development tend to focus on the challenge of linking lessons learned in the training to “real life.”

Of course, if a leader or an organization chooses to put up walls between leadership development and doing the work, that’s a problem. But according to our decades of leadership development research, there are many ways to make learning “stick” and ensure learning transfer so you get the most out of leadership development, including:

Protect against overload. Build in the expectation that time is needed to reflect, practice, plan, and implement change during the development process.
Get the team involved. Team members can keep learners focused, accountable, and on track by pointing out opportunities for incorporating learning, as well as giving feedback on progress.
Use coaching. One-on-one or group coaching can provide high-touch support and perspective, create continuity, and help learners stay on track with their goals.
Offer reinforcements. People may want to go back and review a topic from their program, reinforce a key lesson, dig deeper into a challenge, or share ideas with coworkers. Facilitate this continued learning by offering related or targeted courses, webinars, lunch-and-learns, tools, books, and/or online learning.
Build a community. Some organizations build networks where “graduates” of specific leadership development programs can maintain connections, share tips and experiences, and discuss challenges.
Give you information about the impact of the development experience and how it can be improved,
Encourage people to reflect on the impact of development, and
Remind employees that development is important to the organization.

Of course, evaluation should be built on sound research principles and best practices for evaluating the impact of leadership development .

If you follow these best practices from leadership development research, you’ll find that leadership development done the right way leads to a measurable — and lasting — impact on your organization.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

It’s clear from the leadership development research that a high-quality leadership development program can have lasting positive impacts on your organization’s ability to perform and grow. Take advantage of CCL Passport™ , which gives you unlimited access to our world-renowned content and our most comprehensive package of proven, transformative leadership solutions. If you license our content , you can bring our proven research, programs, and tools in-house to leaders at all levels of your organization.

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Diane’s work at CCL focused on developing, designing, and packaging our content into engaging services, programs, and tools. In 2020, she led the transition of 5 programs from live delivery to digital format to protect clients and staff during the pandemic.

Tracy has extensive experience in leading programs and initiatives in the government, nonprofit, and health sectors. During her time at CCL, Tracy directed and expanded our global evaluation function and served as a facilitator for leadership development, program design, and capacity-building programs with nonprofit organizations.

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Developing Organizational Leaders

overview.

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." —Ralph Nader

Broadly stated, leadership is a social process that involves influencing others. The systematic development of good leaders is fundamental to long-term organizational success, yet organizations often overlook it or undertake leadership development in a haphazard fashion.

This article provides an overview of what leadership development is and how to identify and approach leadership development initiatives.

Numerous formal and informal means of developing leadership exist. Leadership development can be quite costly both in terms of monetary outlays and time spent, but recognized leaders and successful organizations understand and measure the impact of such efforts on the bottom line.

What Is Leadership?

A library's worth of business and academic literature has been devoted to understanding and defining "leadership." This section sets forth some common definitions of what leadership is and what it is not and also discusses the qualities, traits, behaviors and competencies associated with leadership.

Leadership has been defined as the process by which an individual determines direction, influences a group, and directs the group toward a specific goal or mission. In a sense, leadership is what leaders do. The following have been observed:

Leadership is a behavior, not a position. Leadership is inspiring people to live the vision, mission and values of the organization.
Leaders do not just tell people what to do. Great leaders empower people to make decisions that support the goals and vision of the community, ultimately developing smarter solutions. Their job is to inspire and coach. Leaders coach to build a community that is fully participating, both responsibly and accountably. Leaders create buy-in at every level and ensure that all members of their community know that their contributions are important.
Leaders are not necessarily born; people can learn leadership behaviors. People who excel in performing their job and who take full responsibility within their communities are acting like leaders. Someone who looks to find a better, smarter or faster way of making things happen is acting like a leader. Yet some people are "born leaders," and they are becoming ever more valuable.
Management is not synonymous with leadership. Managers facilitate people, process and product. Good managers implement strategies and find solutions to problems. In contrast, the goal of any leader should be to get as many people living the vision as possible.

Qualities, Traits and Behaviors

The ideal leader is flexible, proactive, analytical, strategic, culturally competent and adept at competitive positioning. Leadership development consultants Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman asked more than 300,000 business leaders to rank the top competencies from a list of key leadership skills. They found that the following traits are most important for leadership success:

Inspires and motivates others.
Displays high integrity and honesty.
Solves problems and analyzes issues.
Drives for results.
Communicates powerfully and prolifically.
Builds relationships.
Displays technical or professional expertise.
Displays a strategic perspective.
Develops others.

If You Say Yes to This Question, Your Leadership Skills Are Better Than Those of Most Bosses

What Traits Separate a Leader from a Manager?

Viewpoint: Management vs. Leadership

Desired leadership traits may also vary depending on the type of organization—that is, high-tech for-profit versus co-ops and nonprofits.

Building a Leadership Development Strategy

Leaders deal with rapid changes brought about by new technologies, globalization, politics, environmental concerns and war, transforming the basic values, beliefs and attitudes of followers to build organizational capacity for positive change.

SHRM research indicates that both HR professionals and executives view leadership development as a major human capital challenge now and in the foreseeable future. In addition, executives would like to see stronger leadership qualities among the ranks of HR professionals themselves. See SHRM Research Overview: Leadership Development .

Leadership development encompasses formal and informal training and professional development programs designed to assist employees in developing leadership skills.

The potential rewards of leadership development are great—as are the challenges. HR professionals are often involved in the creation of a leadership development strategy and in its implementation and oversight, including making the business case to senior leaders and measuring return on investment (ROI).

Naturally, the size of an organization influences how the leadership development function is set up and structured. Smaller organizations do not typically have a formal program, whereas larger organizations tend to have a formal strategy, sometimes even a "corporate university."

The involvement of HR professionals in the many aspects of leadership development continues to grow as organizations recognize the need for strategic solutions to address future leadership demands.

Factors to Consider

Many factors should be considered when formulating a leadership development strategy, including:

The commitment of the CEO and senior management team. Leadership development can be time-consuming and costly. It cannot happen without senior-level support.
Alignment between human capital and the business strategy. Leadership development programs must be designed to support the corporate strategy as well as create both organizational and individual impact to be effective.
Financial resources and sustainability. Leadership development requires significant financial and managerial resources over an extended period.
Current gaps in talent development capabilities.
The relationship of performance management to leadership development.
The relationship of succession planning to leadership development.
Other internal environmental factors. For example, at what stage is the organization in its life cycle, and how does each stage affect the type of leadership the organization will need?
External environmental factors. Understand how business competitors handle leadership development and organizational learning.
The use of meaningful metrics.

The exponential pace of change creates significant challenges to the development of new leaders. These challenges press against the limits of human capabilities both for leadership candidates and the people charged with nurturing new leaders.

Even when the need to develop new leaders is recognized and actively pursued, significant institutional and individual obstacles may impede accomplishing this goal.

Institutional obstacles may include:

Limited resources, such as funding and time.
Lack of top management support in terms of priority and mindset.
Lack of commitment in the organization/culture.
Leadership development activities being too ad hoc (i.e., lack of strategy and plan).
Lack of administrative and learning systems.
The practice of looking for leadership only among employees already at the management level.
The practice of affording only management-level employees leadership development opportunities.
Failure to effectively assimilate new executives and new hires into existing leadership development programs.
Efficiencies of scale of larger organizations versus smaller organizations.
Lack of knowledge about how to implement a leadership development program.
Lack of long-term commitment to a leadership development program.
Lack of or failure to use sophisticated metrics to measure leadership skills or the effectiveness of leadership development programs.
The tendency to perceive leadership development as a luxury item subject to quick cost-cutting.

Some of the obstacles to an individual leader's development may include:

The individual's ability to retain and apply leadership knowledge, skills and abilities in changing situations.
Lack of follow-through on development activities.
Generational differences in values, communication and understanding of technology.
Too much focus on business to allow time for development.
Viewing effective leadership as synonymous with effective management.

Organizations should consider different types of data when designing a leadership development scorecard to measure the effectiveness of leadership development programs and activities. Such data may include:

Indicators of the scope and volume of leadership development.
Participants' level of satisfaction with leadership development activities and programs.
Learning and the acquisition of leadership knowledge and skills.
Application of leadership skills to various job situations.
Business impact of applying leadership knowledge and new skills.
Return on investment comparing monetary benefits with program costs.
Intangible benefits related to business measures such as work climate, job attitudes and initiative that cannot be converted into monetary values.

Much of the feedback on the effectiveness of a leadership development program will necessarily be anecdotal. A leader will be able to identify what worked in his or her case but must also recognize that the same approach may not be as effective for others.

See How to Measure the ROI of Leadership Development

Approaches and Elements to Leadership Development

The overarching goal of leadership development is to enhance the capacity for individuals to be effective in leadership roles and processes. For leadership development initiatives to be truly effective, they should align with an organization's corporate strategy and offer development opportunities that are tailored to the individual employee.

See The Chief of Leadership Development: Preparing Today's Leaders for Tomorrow's Challenges .

Identification of potential leaders

Today's dynamic work environments place a premium on making sure there is a robust leadership pipeline for the future. Identifying and selecting the best potential leaders are, therefore, critical strategic objectives for ensuring a sustainable, competitive organization.

Organizations often struggle with identifying potential leaders to select for further development. Do they base their assessments on current performance, resume and pedigree, raw intelligence, drive and determination, ethical attributes, popularity, diversity goals, or 360-degree feedback? One method is the use of a 9-box grid that evaluates an employee's current and potential level of contribution to the organization.

See What is a 9-box grid?

Employers need to watch out for unconscious bias when selecting employees for leadership development and promotion. Employees with significant potential may fall under the radar because they are much younger than the typical high-potential worker; may have been with the organization for a relatively short time; are in a job that gives them few opportunities to shine; or don't "look the part" because of factors like appearance, personality or communication style. Such hidden bias has been blamed for a largely male presence at the nation's top technology companies. SHRM's Advancing Women Leaders solution is designed to help promote gender equity at every level of leadership.

The most common misidentification of future leaders results from confusing high management performance with high leadership potential. An individual who is smart, driven and accustomed to pushing through obstacles to meet ambitious goals may, for example, lack necessary emotional intelligence for effective leadership. Alternatively, strong leaders can be found at all levels within an organization, not just among managers.

Leadership Diversity

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins , 490 U.S. 228 (1989), that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stereotyping must be avoided in selecting (or deselecting) persons for promotion to leadership roles.

Not only a legal issue, developing diverse leaders also contributes to organizational success. A 2020 McKinsey & Co. report found that companies with ethnically diverse executive teams were 36 percent more likely to have above-average profits than companies whose teams were the least ethnically diverse.

Implicit bias is a significant barrier to creating an inclusive environment where a diverse workforce can thrive. When people become more aware of these unconscious assumptions, they are better able to make more-objective decisions and engage in more-inclusive interactions.

The Glass Ceiling: Women and Barriers to Leadership

A Case Study of How to Accelerate Progress in Leadership Diversity

Techniques for Leadership Development

Once an organization is committed to the goal of leadership development, numerous tools and techniques are available to accomplish that goal; however, the process may be handled differently depending on the size and type of the organization (e.g., nonprofit, family business, private company, public company, government entity and specific industry).

The growing use of self-managed and supervisor- or peer-supported development will necessitate a mind shift to greater responsibility for participants and related stakeholders.

Assessment Instruments

A number of popular paper-and-pencil and Internet-based personality assessments are often used in developing candidates for leadership positions and for analyzing leadership styles and their impact on climate and performance.

Employers can identify leadership traits by using current research and personality testing, such as the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Assessment centers provide a comprehensive approach to assessment and may include an array of simulation activities to assess performance on a number of criteria.

See SHRM Talent Assessment Center .

Multirater (360-degree) feedback

Multirater feedback—also known as 360-degree feedback—involves measurement of a person's leadership performance and abilities from the perspective of relevant viewpoints, including self, subordinates, supervisors and possibly external stakeholders. This feedback can provide motivation and specific focus to improve leadership skills and performance.

See 360 Degree Feedback: Request for Leadership Behaviors and 360-Degree Feedback Is Powerful Leadership Development Tool .

Executive coaching is often employed in conjunction with assessment instruments. The coaching process can help individuals understand their assessment data and apply it to real-life situations.

The individual coaching for effectiveness (ICE) model has three parts:

Periodic contact/review to help maintain learning and modified behaviors

See Hire for Coachability and Virtual Coaching Takes Off .

Mentoring is a form of coaching in which a more senior person participates actively in the professional development of a junior person, usually within the same organization. Mentoring may be done informally, as is usually the case, but it can also be formalized.

See Authors Offer Advice on Creating a Mentoring Program and Creating a Mentoring Program: Yodas Not Required .

Leader-to-Leader Development

Pairing senior executives with leaders who are new to their role or an organization allows for mentoring that can result in benefits such as knowledge transfer, confidence building and open collaboration, to name a few.

Experienced leaders can help others understand the inner workings of the leadership team and provide a unique perspective to up and coming leaders in an organization.

Emotional Intelligence Development

Emotional intelligence describes the ability of an individual to be sensitive and understanding to the emotions of others, as well as to manage his or her own emotions and impulses. Ultimately, executive development is about augmenting a person's emotional intelligence quotient (EQ).

Addressing this task in a group environment is particularly effective because much of emotional intelligence unfolds within an interpersonal context. Ninety percent of top performers have high emotional intelligence, according to Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (TalentSmart, 2009).

See Emotional Intelligence Is Key to Outstanding Leadership and She's Smart—But She's Not Emotionally Intelligent .

Work Experiences, Stretch Assignments and Rotational Assignments

One of the best ways to screen for leadership, and to develop leadership abilities, is through the use of stretch assignments. These may entail reassignment to a different geographical location, business unit or functional department. In this way, people are coaxed out of their comfort zones and challenged to employ new strategies to deal with change.

See How to Help Your Team Advance .

Group-Based Leadership Development

Group-based leadership development helps employees attain real-world skills in real time. This method of leadership development can occur through varied methods, including outside experience (such as in community, industry or professional groups), internal programs or external executive education programs. Group-based leadership development requires leaders and potential future leaders to work in unison to:

Develop executive skill sets.
Provide one another with high-value constructive feedback.
Enhance interpersonal communication.
Break functional silos.
Tackle real-world challenges in real time.

Future Trends

Technology will play a big role in personalized, continuous professional development, and workers with strong behavioral skills will be highly sought after, according to predictions from experts in the learning and development field. With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, customized content can be offered based on a learner's specific needs.

The availability of open online courses and other on-demand leadership development solutions increase access to information while reducing costs.

See The Future of Leadership Development .

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." —Ronald Reagan

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24

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research and development leadership skills

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5 Steps to Creating a Successful Leadership Development Plan

27 Nov 2019

Leadership development is a key initiative for many businesses. Organizations not only try to recruit candidates with leadership potential but cultivate their current employees’ leadership skills.

In a survey by global research and advisory firm Gartner , 60 percent of human resources executives said they’ll focus on cultivating leader and manager effectiveness for their company in 2023. In doing so, they intend to nurture the professional development of potential leaders by developing specific leadership qualities, such as authenticity, empathy, and adaptiveness—representing a new kind of “human” leadership.

Additionally, a report by the World Economic Forum projects leadership and social influence to be among the fastest-growing workplace skills through 2022, which ties into a burgeoning trend for all workers to become lifelong learners to address emerging skills gaps.

For motivated professionals who want to advance their careers and assume leadership positions, creating a leadership development plan is vital to staying ahead of the curve and rising to the demands of the job market. According to Harvard Business School Professor Ethan Bernstein, the path to effective leadership is more fluid now than in the past.

“Once upon a time, you would enter a leadership development program in a company that might put you on a 20-year track to becoming an executive,” Bernstein says. “Many of us can’t even fathom that today. But that should be freeing in that it gives us license to develop ourselves and create our own individualized leadership development plans.”

As you plot your career trajectory and consider how you can maximize your professional influence and impact, here are five steps to creating a successful leadership development plan.

How to Design Your Leadership Development Plan

1. assess where you are professionally.

Mapping your leadership development starts with understanding yourself and where you stand professionally. Taking stock of your strengths, weaknesses, and workplace tendencies can help identify areas for improvement and anticipate pitfalls that could arise on your journey to becoming a more capable leader.

“In the process of identifying how what you’ve done before may or may not make you successful going forward, you raise your awareness about how what you already know will contribute to, or undermine, your capacity to successfully lead others in the future,” Bernstein says.

Completing an assessment can be a valuable way to reflect on your motivational drivers and limitations and gain a more holistic view of your personal leadership style . Pairing self-reflection with a 360-degree assessment enables you to solicit feedback from colleagues and peers, which can provide greater insight into how others experience you. In turn, you can build and leverage a keener sense of emotional intelligence throughout your leadership development journey.

Related: 4 Tips for Developing Your Personal Leadership Style

2. Set an Attainable Goal

Goal setting is an essential component of any leadership development plan.

“Just like anything else: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably not going to get there,” Bernstein says. “It sounds overly simplistic, but that summarizes why goals are important."

Bernstein teaches the PACE model, an acronym for:

Pick a leadership goal
Apprise others in your inner circle of the goal
Collect specific ideas on how to improve
Elicit feedback on how you’re doing

The PACE Model in Leadership Development

PACE is employed by learners to select leadership development goals and chart a course of action for achieving them. The first step in the process, Pick, is centered on identifying and prioritizing a goal you can strive toward to boost your professional effectiveness. When setting this goal, take an agile approach and consider both the short and long term.

“You can’t lose sight of where you’re trying to go over the span of a decade—or even a career—which is why making long-term goals is important,” Bernstein says. “But we can’t, as human beings, make progress if we make the milestones so grand and far away that they seem unachievable. A little bit of progress each day keeps the frustration at bay.”

As you define and establish your key goal, consider how you’ll measure progress along the way to ensure you stay on track.

How to Become a More Effective Leader | Access Your Free E-Book | Download Now

3. Engage in Leadership Training

Leadership training can benefit you no matter your career stage. Beyond the opportunity to gain and practice the technical skills needed to empower employees and influence others , you’re exposed to faculty and peers you can lean on for support and learn and grow from. It can also equip you for future leadership roles.

According to Bernstein, honing your leadership abilities in a classroom setting is advantageous because it provides a low-risk environment for reevaluating and fine-tuning goals when you encounter setbacks.

“It’s helpful to have a group of people—we call it your ‘inner circle’—who’ve heard and embraced your leadership goals, and whose conversations helped inform how you would go about achieving them,” Bernstein says. “In moments of challenge and relapse, you can go back to them for encouragement and courage. You can revise your goals in a safe environment because you have a level of openness and vulnerability with those people built into the course.”

4. Interact with Your Network

A professional network is one of the most valuable resources in any leader’s arsenal, so make it a point to grow yours . Throughout your leadership development journey, connecting with like-minded peers can have a positive impact by providing opportunities to employ the knowledge you’ve gained and receive feedback on your progress.

These kinds of interactions are core tenets of the online course Leadership Principles , in which learners practice delivering feedback through video exercises that allow them to evaluate their effectiveness in various business scenarios.

“Ensure your leadership development includes some interaction with other learners and also with the people who are benefitting and suffering from your current capabilities as a leader,” Bernstein says. “We try to teach people to be good protégés, as well as good leaders. It’s an ongoing process. That interaction is important in making things that seem very theoretical ultimately become very practical.”

5. Hone Your Soft Skills

Effective leadership requires a unique blend of characteristics and skills .

“There are skills you need as a leader that you don’t necessarily develop in any other context, at least in a focused way,” Bernstein says. “These include communication; career planning; knowing how to create and evaluate authentic change in a person, including yourself; and negotiating career transitions. These are things you typically won’t do many times in your career, but they will be very important to continuing your leadership trajectory.”

As you chart your leadership development plan, consider how you can bolster essential soft skills like actively listening , practicing empathy , and creating value in a negotiation to ensure you’re prepared to tackle any organizational challenges that come your way.

Leadership Principles | Unlock your leadership potential | Learn More

Developing Your Leadership Skills

Striving to become a strong, capable leader is a commitment you can make at any stage of your career —although doing so sooner means you can reap the benefits longer. By assessing where you are professionally and thinking deeply about where you want to go, you can design a leadership development plan that enables you to channel your passions and build the skills needed to be more impactful in your role.

Do you want to enhance your leadership skills? Download our free leadership e-book and explore our online course Leadership Principles to discover how you can become a more effective leader and unleash the potential in yourself and others.

This post was updated on December 21, 2022. It was originally published on November 27, 2019.

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Key-Leadership-Skills - IMD Business School

The 8 key leadership skills you need to know in 2024

Anyone can be placed in a leadership role, but to be good and thrive in that position requires solid leadership skills . Leadership skills are typically at the top of the list of competencies that recruiters focus on when hiring, or when managers are promoted from within an organization.

Effective leadership skills are crucial, both in a professional and personal capacity and are vital in facilitating effective team dynamics, driving success, managing change, and promoting personal and professional development.

Some of the world’s largest companies hunt for people with well-honed leadership skills to fill their most sought after executive positions.

8 key leadership skills you need to know about:

Relationship building
Agility and adaptability
Innovation and creativity
Employee motivation
Decision-making
Conflict management
Negotiation
Critical Thinking

1. Relationship building (the foundation of a high-performing team)

Some leaders will say they that they do not need to be loved in the workplace to succeed. This may be true, but to build a cohesive and more engaged team, great managers need the leadership skills to forge strong working relationships with their employees.

Leaders with strong, trusting and authentic relationships with their teams know that investing time in building these bonds makes them more effective as a leader, and creates a foundation for success.

Good working relationships increase employee engagement and according to Gallup’s meta-analysis of employee engagement, business units with good employee engagement have 41% fewer quality defects and 37% less absenteeism. A 21% increase in productivity was also seen to result from higher employee engagement.

So even if you think you don’t need to be loved in the workplace, you will definitely need to be skilled in building good relationships in order to be an effective leader.

If your team is highly engaged and happy in the workplace, you are likely to be well respected as a leader with employees who love what they do, and hopefully the strong relationships you cultivate will help your team perform at their highest level.

Tips for leaders to navigate relationships in the workplace »

2. Agility and adaptability (stay at the cutting edge as a leader)

In a study conducted by Development Dimensions International in 2008, one of the most important leadership qualities, was the ability to facilitate change. Fast-forward to 2024, adaptability is one of the most important leadership skills.

Leaders need to contend with a hyper-competitive business environment, geo-politics, climate change, the changes advanced by the COVID-19 pandemic and many more factors, all of which require leaders to adapt and develop agility.

Effective leaders must be able to adapt to both internal, and external changes – even if that means working outside of your comfort zone. As a leader you need to develop a lifelong learning mentality to ensure that you are not left behind by shifts in your industry, and can give your business the competitive edge. This is where as a leader you need to be agile and adaptable, which is easier said than done.

One key way to develop leadership agility and adaptability is to be accountable and assume your responsibilities, making sure that you have laid out a plan on how you should respond to change.

This plan should contain an achievable timeline, allowing you to constantly check your progress on how well you are adapting to the change and how you are exemplifying this to your team.

Read IMD article on agile leadership in an age of digital disruption »

3. Innovation and creativity (learn to push your boundaries)

Innovation in leadership is of utmost importance for every company. Successful innovation begins with ideation — the phase where outstanding ideas are developed and become the foundation of innovation success.

Consider some of the industry leaders, what did it take for Apple to become a leader technology industry? They made innovations to products with their customers in mind.

Steve Jobs, and perhaps even more so Tim Cook led the innovation and creativity for Apple Inc. by continuously forging ahead of the competition, and this probably made them some of the most innovative leaders within the tech industry.

The increasing demand for creativity and innovation will continue to be a driving force for executives, as who must harness their leadership skills in these areas to be effective and competitive.

4. Employee motivation (improve engagement and efficiency)

In close connection with relationship building, the ability to motivate your workforce is as important as keeping employee engagement high. One of the most effective leadership skills is knowing how to continuously motivate employees, which requires leaders to be connected to their teams and attentive to what is going on around them.

In a study done by the firm Interact on 10,000 employees in the US which cited that the number 1 complaint (63%) from employees concerning their managers is lack of appreciation, and, conversely, when managers appreciate their contribution, their engagement increases by 60%.

In another study by Westminster College, it was found that boosting morale is the top (32%) motivational technique employees prefer. If employees are not motivated, the company can be negatively affected (financially) with absenteeism, attrition and low productivity.

Motivated employees are much more engaged, they are also more self-confident in what they do, and can do. This leads them to know how to react in difficult situations and develop innovative ideas that could help optimize business performance.

5. Decision-making (leading with conviction)

A leader is tasked with making decisions all the time. To be an effective leader, those decision making skills need to be top notch. Critical decisions affecting your organization on a large scale need to be sound, rational and solid.

In reality, your decisions as a leader will determine your – and potentially your organization’s – success. Making decisions, however big or small, are a fundamental part of Leadership, as a leader you need to develop strong decision-making skills and have the conviction to stand by your decisions, whilst also recognizing the need to adapt when those decisions do not lead to the desired outcome. It is a unique balancing act.

Remember, some decisions may not always be favorable. Making an unpopular but necessary decision is probably one of the most difficult tasks as a leader, but it is vital that as a leader you are able to recognize your responsibilities and make clear decisions for your team or organization.

📝 Try an exercise for better decision making »

6. Conflict management (keeping the peace)

According to the American Management Association, managers spend at least 24% of their time managing conflict. Conflict can happen in any area of business.

A conflict is considered to be any issue between two or more individuals that can potentially disrupt work. Conflict in business may go beyond the workplace as it can involve customers, suppliers and even competitors.

When a conflict arises, an effective leader should be able to jump in and resolve or at least mitigate the conflict before it affects the business negatively. When properly dealt with, a conflict may even turn out to be positive for your organization, as it can often lead to stronger bonds or new ideas.

To be effective as a leader, you must be good at identifying conflict, and have foresight on how to resolve it. It is also essential to be rational when faced with confrontation. Conflict management is no doubt one of the most important leadership competencies but Robyn Short cited a study that found 60% of U.S. employees have not received any conflict management skills training.

As a leader, it is important that you are able to manage conflict, but developing these same skills in your team can help avoid conflict altogether.

How to manage conflict: Six essentials from a former FBI hostage negotiator »

7. Negotiation (winning the game)

Negotiation is a process where two parties with different ideals get together and mutually agree on what an outcome should be. According to Skills You Need, the process of negotiation involves 6 stages:

Preparation
Clarification of goals
Negotiation towards a Win-Win outcome
Implementation of a course of action

Good negotiations can be beneficial to an organization because they will build better relationships, both internally and externally. They will also help find the best long-term solution by getting the most out of two different sides. An effective leader must be well versed in his negotiation style to move an organization forward.

As a leader, negotiation is used to understand the interests of your employees and to find ways of satisfying those interests, in order to achieve organizational goals.

Tips on using negotiation to achieve positive outcomes »

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8. Critical Thinking (understand the links between ideas)

Leading a business is unquestionably challenging. To be successful, a leader must make a lot of difficult decisions, often under pressure. Research by the Brandon Hall Group shows that critical thinking is the most important skill required of leaders to successfully lead an organization.

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly, whilst building a logical connection between different ideas. Critical thinkers are often intelligent decision makers, highly analytical and generally always rational. Critical thinking is a learned skill, and generally involves three steps:

Step 1 – Frame

Complex problems are rarely what they appear to be on first look. To better understand what you are dealing with, frame the problem by asking yourself “What is my problem?” Hint: you can safely assume that whatever you think your problem is right now probably isn’t your actual problem.

Step 2 – Explore

Do not rely on intuition. No matter how much faith you have in your own judgment, if you rely strictly on your instincts you will miss the opportunity to see things from an alternative perspective. Instead, explore potential solutions. That is, ask yourself “How may I solve my problem?” It is equally important to explore what matters to you; that is, the various attributes of a solution that would make it more attractive to you.

Step 3 – Decide

In most cases, one solution isn’t consistently superior to all others on all attributes. To make your decision, answer your question, “How should I solve my problem?” Surface the trade-offs for each solution, identifying what you are ready to give away that you value so that you can get a little more of something else that you value even more.

Frame, explore, decide, or FrED, for short. For most complex problems, your understanding of the problem changes as you progress through the analysis. The three steps aren’t so much a linear sequence as they are elements of an iterative loop. Do not hesitate to revise previous conclusions as new evidence surfaces.

Typically, critical thinkers will rigorously question ideas and assumptions, they will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the true picture and are commonly able to recognize inconsistencies and errors in reasoning to achieve the desired outcome.

Sharpen your critical thinking skills with IMD »

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In the swiftly evolving AI landscape, the call for a digital leader is louder than ever. With the advent of generative AI and rapid technological advancements, the competencies required for leadership are being fundamentally reshaped. Traditional models of management and strategy are making way for new paradigms that prize agility, vision, tenacity, and ambidexterity. Keep […]

What is leadership?

All leaders, to a certain degree, do the same thing. Whether you’re talking about an executive, sports coach, or schoolteacher, leadership is enabling others to accomplish something they couldn’t do on their own. Some people in formal leadership positions are poor leaders , and many good leaders have no formal authority. In this sense, leadership is something you do and not something you are. It is a person’s actions, rather than their words or job title, that inspire trust and commitment.

Get to know and directly engage with senior McKinsey experts on leadership

Aaron De Smet is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office; Carolyn Dewar is a senior partner in the Bay Area office; Dana Maor is a senior partner in the Tel Aviv office; Kurt Strovink , Ramesh Srinivasan , and Vik Malhotra are senior partners in the New York office; and Scott Keller is a senior partner in the Southern California office.

What’s more, leadership is not something people are born with. Because good leadership is often expressed through behavior rather than personality, it is a skill that can be learned. How? Getting to know oneself is a key first step. The most effective leaders are highly conscious of their own thoughts and beliefs and show up with integrity as their fully authentic selves.

There are many contexts and ways in which leadership is exercised. According to McKinsey analysis of academic literature and a global survey of nearly 200,000 people in 81 organizations, there are four types of behaviors that account for 89 percent of leadership effectiveness:

being supportive
operating with a strong orientation toward results
seeking different perspectives
solving problems effectively

Effective leaders know that what works in one situation will not necessarily work every time. Leadership strategies must reflect an organization’s context. For example, a situational approach enables executives to focus on the leadership behaviors that are most relevant to the organization as it evolves.

Learn more about McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice .

What is the journey of leadership?

Most great leaders learn to lead over time. Within organizations, the combination of programs, books, and courses to cultivate these skills is often referred to as “leadership development”—though the results vary.

McKinsey’s latest book, The Journey of Leadership (Portfolio/Penguin Group, September 2024), draws on the authors’ decades of experience guiding the world’s top leaders to become the best versions of themselves. With these insights, the authors have developed a distinctive approach to leadership development, one they believe is more effective than most other programs.

Ramesh Srinivasan and Hans-Werner Kaas are codeans of McKinsey’s Bower Forum CEO leadership development program, where, over the past ten years, more than 500 of the world’s top CEOs and business leaders have bravely confronted personal and professional challenges. Dana Maor is the global cohead and European leader of McKinsey’s People and Organizational Performance Practice, and Kurt Strovink leads McKinsey’s global CEO Initiative to help build great CEOs and CEO counselors.

Leadership development, according to the book, is a journey of personal growth and improvement that helps a person challenge their current psychological and emotional conditioning. This is often a difficult process because it involves rewiring the habits and behaviors that got them to the top of their game in the first place. For example, skills such as financial acumen, strategic and operational management, and systems thinking are critical for executive roles—but they are not skills known for sparking passion in employees. Put simply, it’s about unlearning management and relearning being human. Human-centric leadership is, as coauthor Hans-Werner Kaas puts it, when leaders “ show up as human beings and behave as such when they interact with their coworkers, whether they lead executive teams or interact with internal or external stakeholders.”

To succeed today, great leaders should be able to carefully balance the following:

certainty about what they know versus openness to new ideas and approaches—and the confidence to adjust their original plans
an obsession with financial performance versus the needs of all the company’s shareholders and stakeholders
being a conservative steward of the business versus taking the occasional bold and well-calculated risk
being in control versus empowering teams to take initiative
being a hard-headed professional versus someone who takes a more humane approach

A well-designed and executed leadership development program can help organizations build leaders’ capabilities broadly and at scale. And these programs can be built on coaching, mentoring, and solving challenging problems by applying them in real time to real work.

Circular, white maze filled with white semicircles.

Looking for direct answers to other complex questions?

What are microhabits.

Dramatic changes in our behavior can happen in small increments. Microhabits are a pragmatic way of improving yourself in measurable, small steps, says Hans-Werner Kaas. These may look very different for different people and will depend on the changes you’re trying to make. In addition to yoga, coauthor Dana Maor has cultivated the habits of not sleeping less than five hours for more than two nights in a row and ensuring she has 15 minutes before every meeting for reflection. Coauthor Ramesh Srinivasan listens to classical Indian music with his wife every morning over a cup of coffee while discussing their intentions for the day.

What is a traditional management style, and what are its limitations?

In the past, leadership was called “management,” with an emphasis on providing technical expertise and direction. In the industrial economy’s traditional, command-and-control organization , leaders focused exclusively on maximizing value for shareholders and had three roles: planners (who develop strategy, then translate that strategy into concrete steps), directors (who assign responsibilities), or controllers (who ensure people do what they’ve been assigned and plans are adhered to).

Traditional management was revolutionary in its day and enormously effective in building large-scale global enterprises that have materially improved lives over the past 200 years. However, as the 21st century marches on, this approach is reaching its limits. For one thing, the management style of leadership doesn’t guarantee happy or loyal managers or workers. Indeed, a large portion of American workers—56 percent— claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic , while 75 percent say dealing with their manager is the most stressful part of their workday.

For organizations operating in today’s complex business environment, a more effective approach to leadership has emerged. Leaders have begun to focus more on building agile , human-centered, and digitally enabled organizations that are able to meet the needs of a broader range of stakeholders: that is, customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, as well as investors.

What is a newer approach to leadership?

This new approach to leadership—what we sometimes call service leadership —is based on a simple idea: rather than directing people, it may be more effective for leaders to be in service of the people they lead. The focus is on how leaders can make the lives of their team members easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

Service leaders practice empathy, compassion, vulnerability, gratitude, self-awareness, and self-care. They provide appreciation and support to employees, creating psychological safety so their employees are able to collaborate, innovate , and raise issues. This includes celebrating small achievements on the way to reaching big goals and enhancing people’s well-being through better human connections, which have both been shown to enable a team’s best performance.

An example from the COVID-19 pandemic era offers a useful illustration of this new approach. In pursuit of a vaccine breakthrough at the start of the pandemic, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel increased the frequency of executive meetings from once a month to twice a week. At the same time, the company implemented a decentralized model that enabled teams to work faster and more independently. “The pace was unprecedented,” Bancel said. And the results speak for themselves: Moderna delivered on the bold goal of providing 100 million doses of vaccines in 12 months.

What is the impact of the service leader approach?

This new approach to leadership is far more effective in today’s work environment. While the dynamics are complex, countless studies show empirical links between effective leadership, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability. Critically, research suggests that a service leader mentality can enhance both team performance and satisfaction.

In practice, empowering employees might mean taking a more hands-on leadership approach. Employees whose leaders empower them to make decisions are also over three times more likely to say that their organization’s delegated decisions were swift and high-quality. But this type of coaching doesn’t always come naturally.

If you’re a leader looking to empower others, here are some tips to get started :

Provide employees with clear rules, for example, by communicating who makes which decisions. Clarity and boundary structures, such as role remits and responsibilities, help teams stay focused on their primary tasks.
Avoid being a complicit manager—for instance, if you’ve delegated a decision to a team, don’t step in and solve the problem for them.
Address culture and skills, for instance, by helping employees learn how to have difficult conversations.
Solicit personal feedback from others, across all levels of your organization, on how you are performing as a leader.

How can leaders communicate effectively?

Good, clear communication is a leadership hallmark. Some fundamental tools for effective communication include the following:

Define and point to long-term goals.
Listen to and understand stakeholders.
Create openings for dialogue.
Communicate proactively.

And in times of uncertainty, these things are important for crisis communicators :

Give people what they need, when they need it.
Communicate clearly, simply, and frequently.
Choose candor over charisma.
Revitalize a spirit of resilience.
Distill meaning from chaos.
Support people, teams, and organizations to build the capability for self-sufficiency.

How can CEOs be successful leaders?

Just as for leaders more broadly, today’s environment requires CEOs to lead very differently than they have in the past. Recent research indicates that between one-third to one-half of new CEOs are deemed to be failing within 18 months .

What helps the best executives thrive? To find out, McKinsey led a research effort to identify the CEOs who achieved breakaway success. We examined 20 years’ worth of data on 7,800 CEOs from 3,500 public companies across 70 countries and 24 industries and distilled our insights in the McKinsey book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest (Scribner, March 2022). Watch an interview with the authors for more on what separates the best CEOs from the rest.

Getting perspective on leadership from CEOs themselves is enlightening—and illustrates the nuanced ways in which the new approach to leadership, as described above, can be implemented. Here are a few quotes from McKinsey’s interviews with these top-level leaders :

“I think the fundamental role of a leader is to look for ways to shape the decades ahead, not just react to the present, and to help others accept the discomfort of disruptions to the status quo.” — Indra Nooyi , former chair and CEO of PepsiCo
“Leaders of other enterprises often define themselves as captains of the ship, but I think I’m more the ship’s architect or designer. That’s different from a captain’s role, in which the route is often fixed and the destination defined.” — Zhang Ruimin , founder and former CEO of Haier
“We need an urgent refoundation of business and capitalism around purpose and humanity—to find new ways for all of us to lead so that we can create a better future, a more sustainable future.” — Hubert Joly , former chair and CEO of Best Buy

What are mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship?

Mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship can also be part of leadership development efforts. Mentorship refers to trusted counselors who offer guidance and support on various professional issues, such as career progression. Sponsorship describes senior leaders who create opportunities to help junior colleagues succeed. These two roles are typically held by more senior colleagues, whereas apprenticeship could be more distributed. Apprenticeship describes the way any colleague with domain expertise might teach others, model behaviors, or transfer skills. All three of these approaches can be useful not only for developing leaders but also for helping an organization upskill or reskill employees quickly and at scale—which is more critical now, in the age of generative AI , than ever before.

For more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s insights on People & Organizational Performance . Learn more about McKinsey’s leadership and management and check out job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced:

“ Author Talks: A transformational approach to leadership ,” August 8, 2024, Dana Maor , Hans-Werner Kaas, Kurt Strovink , and Ramesh Srinivasan
“ The ‘inside out’ leadership journey: How personal growth creates the path to success ,” June 17, 2024, Dana Maor , Hans-Werner Kaas, Kurt Strovink , and Ramesh Srinivasan
“ Why so many bad bosses still rise to the top ,” May 1, 2024, Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle
“ Author Talks: What separates the best CEOs from the rest? ,” December 15, 2021, Carolyn Dewar , Scott Keller , and Vik Malhotra
“ From the great attrition to the great adaptation ,” November 3, 2021, Aaron De Smet , Bill Schaninger
“ Reviving the art of apprenticeship to unlock continuous skill development ,” October 21, 2021, Lisa Christensen, Jake Gittleson, Matt Smith, and Heather Stefanski
“ The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships ,” September 22, 2020, Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger
“ Leading agile transformation: The new capabilities leaders need to build 21st century organizations ,” October 1, 2018, Aaron De Smet , Michael Lurie, and Andrew St. George
“ Leadership in context ,” January 1, 2016, Michael Bazigos, Chris Gagnon, and Bill Schaninger
“ Decoding leadership: What really matters ,” January 1, 2015, Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol, and Ramesh Srinivasan

This article was updated in September 2024; it was originally published in August 2022.

Want to know more about leadership?

Reimagining HR: Insights from people leaders

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What is leadership: Moving beyond the C-Suite

CEO Excellence

Welcome to the Research Leadership Institute !

The Research Leadership Institute (RLI) is a cohort-based faculty development program at the University of Arizona that is conducted each academic year to cultivate emerging research leaders.

A joint effort between Research Development (Kim Patten) and Research Training (Scott Pryor), the Research Leadership Institute (RLI) was designed to meet the unique demands of leadership in research and scholarship. The establishment of RLI is to empower emerging research leaders with tailored perspectives, valuable relationships, and essential leadership tools suited to the academic environment.

The RLI program guides participants in discovering their unique paths to becoming accomplished research leaders capable of driving the discoveries and innovations urgently needed in today's rapidly evolving world.

What is RLI?

Who Can Participate?

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Where Does RLI Take Place?

“ RLI has been a master class in strategic thinking. ”

— Michael Johnson, ’22-‘23 RLI Fellow from the College of Medicine – Tucson

“RLI provided invaluable insight into the expansive research ecosystem at U of A and beyond. The relationships and opportunities I developed during the institute will catapult my research in ways that benefit my students, community partners, and the ecosystems I engage with.”

—Paul Wagner, '23-‘24 RLI Fellow from the College of Applied Science & Technology

“ RLI is a perfect mix of researcher development, leadership training, and networking with colleagues. I have benefited tremendously from being able to reflect on the direction I want to take my research in the next phases of my career and how to get there. I have also appreciated opportunities to learn more about colleagues’ research across campus. I now better understand how we all fit together as a university .”

—Chantelle Warner, ’22-‘23 RLI Fellow from the College of Humanities

Participants highly rate their overall experience with the RLI program, giving it a 9.7 out of 10.

Research Leadership Institute participants now research partners

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Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership - Mathematics and Science Education Specialization, Ph.D.

60 credits - existing master’s
70 credits - without a master’s

Full-time, Part-time

December 3, 2024

June 30, 2025

In-State - $12,540
Out-of-State - $26,490

The Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, with a specialization in Mathematics and Science Education is designed to inspire and prepare the next generation of researchers and transformative practitioners in K-16 mathematics and science education.

As a student in this program, you’ll delve into both traditional and cutting-edge research in mathematics and science education, explore theories of individual and social cognition, and learn about teacher education. You’ll gain expertise in research methods that are essential for mathematics and science education, while connecting theory, research and practice.

You'll also develop your own skills as a mathematical and scientific thinker. The curriculum includes rigorous and engaging courses that cover teaching, learning, policy, and teacher preparation in mathematics and science to help strengthen your skills as a mathematical and scientific thinker. You can also choose more specialized courses focused on either mathematics or science education. Plus, there are opportunities to take courses in STEM policy and leadership.

Our program is uniquely positioned in one of the most diverse regions in the country and our faculty have strong connections with the largest school districts in Maryland. This gives you the chance to receive real-world experience and to engage directly with students in urban school environments.

Key Features

Integration of Theory, Research, and Practice : Our program emphasizes the connection between theoretical frameworks, empirical research, and practical application in mathematics and science education
Focus on Urban Education : Our program leverages its location near Washington, DC, to address the specific needs of high-needs urban school districts, offering students hands-on experience and opportunities to impact communities where it’s needed most
Development of Expertise : Our program develops students' skills as both researchers and practitioners and offers a comprehensive curriculum that includes courses in teaching, learning, policy, and specialized courses in mathematics or science education, along with opportunities in STEM policy and leadership
A deep understanding of both traditional and cutting-edge research in mathematics and science education, as well as the research methods commonly used in this field
Knowledge of theories of individual and social cognition related to mathematics and science education
Learn how to connect theory, research, and practice effectively in educational settings
Enhance your abilities as a mathematical and scientific thinker

Information on admissions and application to this program can be found on the University Graduate Admissions website and the program handbook.

Admission Requirements Guide to Applying

Sharon Fries-Britt, Professor

On average, our program takes at least three years to complete, with five years being a typical timeline.If you have a master’s degree, you will take a minimum of 60 credits. If you do not have a master’s degree, you will take a minimum of 70 credits and work with your advisor to develop an individualized plan that seamlessly blends master’s level and doctoral level coursework.

You will take a two-course “departmental core” sequence introducing you to educational research and helping you refine your research interests; four courses on approaches to conducting research; five courses on mathematics and science education, and elective courses chosen to help you pursue your academic and career interests.

Our faculty are chosen for their expertise and dedication; they provide exceptional guidance and support to foster your academic and professional success.

Mathematics Education Specialization

Center for Mathematics Education Faculty Listing

Science Education Specialization

Center for Science and Technology Education Faculty Listing

For more information about the admissions process, please contact: Kay Moon Graduate Coordinator [email protected]

For math-specific questions, please contact:: Andrew Brantlinger Associate Professor [email protected]

For science-specific questions, please contact: Andrew Elby Professor [email protected]

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to sign up for up to 4 workshops | Up to 1 from each concurrent workshop period

| NORDP Members - $85 per Workshop | Non-Members = $125 per Workshop

all workshop attendees are invited to participate in a number of free gatherings from the bonus Bridging Connections group. Sessions in this Group are automatically available to all Workshop Series attendees, NORDP members and non-members alike - all optional and free to attend.

BRIDGING CONNECTIONS TO INCLUDE:

An opportunity to engage in discussions around key topics while viewing a featured session with fellow participants, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.

Roundtable discussions on specific areas of interest where participants can bring their own topics (BYOT - Bring Your Own Topic) to share and discuss with peers, encouraging knowledge exchange and networking.

Dedicated sessions for new members to connect with others in the community, build relationships, and learn more about how to get involved in NORDP.

: Direct access to NORDP board members for insights, advice, and networking opportunities, allowing participants to engage with leaders in the field.

An introduction to NORDP committees, providing participants with opportunities to get involved and contribute to the organization's ongoing initiatives, further expanding their professional network.

Beyond structured events, participants have the chance to connect with peers, experts, and mentors throughout the series, building a strong network that supports their professional growth.

(Attendees may select up to 1 from each Concurrent Workshop Period)

Join us for an intensive and engaging workshop designed to empower research development (RD) professionals with practical tools to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in scholarship teams and RD practice teams. Anchored by CREDITS Inclusive Collaboration Toolkit, this session will provide actionable strategies for fostering institutional transformation and broadening participation across research environments. Participants will learn how to design inclusive grant programs, harness the benefits of intersectional diversity to boost innovation and utilize the JEDI Toolbox to implement effective DEI practices. The workshop will also cover decolonizing traditional research metrics, ensuring they reflect the full scope of scholarly activity. By the end of the session, RD professionals will be equipped to drive meaningful change and create more equitable research cultures at their institutions.

Susan Carter; Camille Coley; Barbara Walker

This workshop is the hands-on follow-up from our two-part "Center-Size Me" presentation series at the Spring 2024 NORDP Conference. This is your opportunity to really dive into designing your own internal funding or service model to seed large interdisciplinary teams, getting expert feedback in real time.

Recognizing that diverse perspectives are needed to tackle the most complex problems facing society, academic institutions are investing in internal funding programs to drive robust multidisciplinary efforts. These internal programs are easy to dream up but quite challenging to execute. In our workshop, a group of RD landscape leaders will guide you through creating or retooling your own seed funding program or RD service suite that's tailored to the specific goal of catalyzing interdisciplinary research teams to pursue external funding that sustains a shared research vision. We'll use our successes (and sometimes colossal failures) in our own programs to shape the workshop activities.

Amy Carroll; Jill Jividen; Jennifer Lyon Gardner; Kim Patten

Funders increasingly prioritize deeply convergent research, but how can Research Development professionals support not just Team Science, but more inclusive, more methodologically diverse Team research and scholarship in service to societal challenges? Participants in this workshop will leave with practical techniques to catalyze and support teams of humanists, artists, social scientists, and other STEM researchers and with strategies to help faculty navigate institutional barriers to participation in grants or cross-disciplinary work.

Leah Gorman, Strategic Research Development Specialist, Oregon State University

Networking is the most honorable endeavor in which you can engage, because at its heart, is the sprit of generosity. Networking is about crafting win-win relationships with people for the long haul, and in many ways, mirrors the job interviewing process, because both networking and interviewing are about communicating how you can help the other party. In this dynamic workshop, Professional Speaker, STEM Career Coach, and Author, Networking for Nerds (Wiley), Alaina G. Levine will teach you specific strategies and tactics to identify and approach potential collaborators effectively to grow long-term alliances with them. Alaina will guide you through the process of initiating and nurturing conversations that lead to valuable partnerships and job opportunities across the global research development community and beyond. And then take it to the next level with interviewing, where you'll learn and practice what to say and when to ensure that the decision-maker understands your value.

Alaina Levine

This hands-on workshop will guide research administration leaders in strategically implementing AI to optimize operations and support institutional goals. Participants will explore AI-driven solutions that strengthen high-level functions such as compliance, resource management, and process improvements. With a focus on operational and strategic outcomes, this session will offer practical strategies, interactive exercises, and real-world applications for leveraging AI to maximizing efficiency across your organization.

Lisa Wilson

Are you "managing up," "herding cats" and trying to implement science of team science (SciTS) concepts in stealth mode? Where do you start? How do you effectively manage the resources, people, and ideas? The goal of this workshop is to provide Research Development Professionals with science facilitation and science of team science (SciTS) skills to improve team interactions and promote knowledge creation. We call this being the Archinator® (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0288136). In these sessions, we will use social network diagrams from science/research teams to explore different team structures and discuss the pros and cons of each. Once we have the structure, we can create systems to reach the desired structure.

Ellen Fisher; Hannah Love

Research Development (RD) professionals routinely collaborate with individuals and teams on research proposals, facilitating multidisciplinary and cross-institutional initiatives, and other types of collaborative work. Are you interested in improving your facilitating skills? Would you like to learn how to use your convening power to build more creative, action-oriented collaborations that lead to accountability and measurable outcomes? How might you better manage the art and nuances of critical components such as equity of voice and psychological safety when facilitating teams? Build your capacity to confidently manage a variety of strategic action planning to drive impactful outcomes.

Jeff Agnoli; Sarah James; Betsy Loucks Stubblefield

Research dissemination products like articles are persistent and measurable outputs of research. For that reason, the "impact" of research is often estimated by measuring the reuse of articles in further research through citations. Many products show the uptake of articles through those articles' citations, or use citations to estimate the visibility of journals or researchers. This session will explain these citation-based metrics and discuss their strengths and limitations. The session will define approaches to researcher measurement like the H-index, and disambiguate platform-specific journal measurements like Journal Impact Factor and CiteScore from more general concepts in measurement like disciplinary quartiles. Although the presenter will discuss paid products, the activities will only use free metric tools. This workshop is not recommended for RD professionals focused on disciplines that disseminate primarily in books or exhibits. Attendees will find metrics related to their own researcher clients, in order to create real-world products.

Nina Exner

Research education often proves to be a challenging topic to engage learners. Didactic teaching methods for research education often fail to take individual learning styles into consideration, leaving learners unengaged and unprepared. Incorporating active learning strategies offers a dynamic means to foster deeper understanding of the materials and fosters deeper engagement. By promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration, active learning shifts the focus to direct participation, empowering learners to internalize concepts and apply them in real-world settings. This workshop equips research educators with practical tools to transform their teaching. Participants will explore active learning strategies such as case-based learning, think-pair-share, fishbowl exercises, and critical uncertainties. Hands-on opportunities will allow educators to practice strategies, ensuring they leave prepared to create more inclusive and effective learning environments that cater to diverse learners' needs.

Wendy Hegefeld; David McClung

Money! It plays such an integral role in our lives today, but is often a source of stress and anxiety. Part of the challenge is we are taught not to discuss money or that money should be a secondary priority. What if we had a way to feel empowered when thinking about money, especially as it relates to our careers? In this interactive workshop, learn how to look at money as a tool, establish your worth, negotiate with confidence, and approach money as it relates to career advancement, job searches, and salary negotiation. We will provide a framework for you to get started today to achieve your professional and financial goals, and most importantly, to use money as a way to create Your Unicorn Career: the customized, authentic career that brings you joy, meaning, AND MONEY.

Alaina Levine

Engaging in Collaboration Planning has the potential to increase team effectiveness by helping research teams build trust; develop processes to address conflict before it happens; and set up coordination, communication, and collaboration systems that support strong team functioning. As team science support infrastructure, Collaboration Planning can also help organizations increase the quality and quantity of team science at their institutions. In this workshop, participants will learn to deliver this evidence-informed Collaboration Planning intervention with their own teams and to develop a Collaboration Planning program to implement in their organization. Materials include a structured worksheet to guide the 90-minute Collaboration Planning session and a detailed Facilitators Guide with scripts and helpful hints, as well as evaluation materials for conducting pre- and post-session assessment of team processes.

Betsy Rolland

What tools are available to facilitate cross-disciplinary brainstorming? This workshop introduces and demonstrates the Idea Tree Exercise, a tool developed by the UC Irvine Team Scholarship Acceleration Lab to foster and facilitate interdisciplinary research idea generation and knowledge integration. Participants will gain hands-on experience using the tool to generate co-produced ideas and facilitate the development of an interdisciplinary project idea.

Holly Hapke

This session will define Proposal Management and Proposal Development, explore why Proposal Development is important in Research Development, outline phases of Proposal Development, share tools and strategies for supporting proposals and researchers, and discuss editing proposals for effectiveness and fundability.

Amy Carroll; Joanna Downer; Jill Jividen; Sharon Pound; Katie Shoaf

Unlock the transformative power of generative AI in your research development work with this interactive workshop focused on mastering prompt engineering and iterative improvement and effective AI interaction. Designed for Research Development professionals, this session provides a structured environment where you'll gain hands-on experience in crafting precise prompts, refining your instructions through feedback loops, and managing complex AI-driven tasks. You'll learn to harness ChatGPT as a dynamic tool for streamlining email writing, enhancing proposal development, and synthesizing complex information. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the tools and strategies to optimize your use of AI, enhancing your productivity and innovation in research development.

Nick Stelzner, August Mercer

Are you a mid-career research development professional wondering how to move your current position forward and towards your ideal? We will explore what your ideal job is and what parts of this ideal overlap with the mission of your current position/group you are in. Once a goal is identified that overlap or next logical step forward within your current position will be explored against your past experiences and current job duties. We often downsize our past accomplishments and abilities. You will put a voice to your accomplishments and abilities. Most likely you are already doing the work of moving your position forward. During this workshop you will put this to paper and make it REAL and obtainable. We will also brainstorm to finish a road map of the work yet to be completed in order to meet your goal.

Susan Elkins

This workshop will provide an overview of why diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) is relevant to the role of a Research Development professional. Participants will learn about common DEI challenges that Research Development professionals encounter and about best practices relating to these challenges. They will be given opportunities to share challenges they have encountered with colleagues while discussing lessons learned. Small group activities will be hands-on and practical in nature, allowing participants to walk away with practical knowledge and concrete tools to allow them to readily incorporate DEI into their work.

Elizabeth McGee, Sharon Murphy

Research Development (RD) includes a wide variety of activities to strengthen research, scholarly, and creative enterprises and a full spectrum of possible approaches to the work. So how do RD professionals and institutional leaders decide what to do and how to do it? This workshop will usher attendees into an iterative, data-driven process-improvement approach to "right-size" the scope of RD by strategically designing responsibilities and work to meet institutional needs while also supporting the sustainability, satisfaction, and effectiveness of the RD effort. Armed with individual, hands-on analyses and reflections, workshop participants will be prepared to advance a comprehensive "right-scoping" plan with the confidence to make intentional choices about what RD should look like for them, their offices, and/or their institutions.

Joanna Downer

Too often we are busy without being productive. Our days are full without being fulfilling. We have too much on our plates and not enough time for the things that matter most. Managing your time is not just something you do, it's how you do everything in your life. When we think about time management, often things like task apps, calendars, and scheduling programs come to mind. However, good time management requires a much deeper understanding of our own minds. The reasons you procrastinate or avoid certain tasks go much deeper than just needing another app on your phone. In this session, Dr. Shenvi will use concepts that range from Stoic philosophy to modern educational psychology literature to explain why we avoid certain tasks and will give practical strategies to help you manage your time better with less stress.

Christina Shenvi

Join us for an interactive workshop designed for research development professionals at non-R1 institutions. The workshop will be led by Kevin Leland, CEO and Founder of Halo, which is leading a new NSF T.I.P. pilot program aimed at fostering new industry partnerships for Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs). During the workshop, you'll participate in practical exercises, engage in small group discussions, and analyze real life case studies to learn effective strategies for building lasting industry connections Additionally, a guest speaker from industry will share firsthand insights on what industry leaders value in academic collaborations and offer actionable advice for initiating and nurturing these relationships. This interactive workshop is your opportunity to enhance your skills and learn best practices for engaging with industry as a non-R1 institution.

Kevin Leland

Jeff Agnoli; Sarah James; Betsy Loucks Stubblefield

1120 Route 73, Suite 200 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 USA

TEL: 1-855-RES-DEV1 (Toll Free, 1-855-737-3381) [email protected]

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EVOLVE 2025: Leadership Goals and Action Steps

Leadership strengths are critically important to the success of HLC’s member institutions, including boards and chief executive officers (CEOs). This also applies to the goals of HLC’s Board of Trustees and HLC leaders. Goals include the thought leadership role of HLC in higher education and all related processes: accreditation, student borrowing, student success, equity, state support etc., all of which are currently undergoing an unprecedented level of public scrutiny. The enhancement of leadership at education-related institutions and organizations must become an organizational priority to successfully restore public confidence in higher education.

Chart showing timeline of Leadership goals and action steps

Goal 1: Research Key Leadership Issues

Develop independently and in collaboration with appropriate partner organizations, strategic research addressing key leadership issues, including student success and institutional effectiveness, that leverage HLC’s unique position within American higher education.

2021–2022, and then ongoing

HLC published a thought paper on “Transfer Admissions” in Leaflet examining the flexibilities institutions have at their disposal to provide more transfer opportunities.
HLC has participated in a Midwest Higher Education Compact and the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships project examining the dual credit pipeline issue.
HLC’s Effective Administrators Workshop continues to broaden its reach in preparing the next wave of leaders at colleges and universities.

Related Resources

Recent HLC reports

Goal 2: Improve HLC Staff Professional Development Practices

Review HLC’s professional development practices to ensure the currency of knowledge and skills needed for staff responsiveness in adapting policies and procedures to effectively serve member institutions in a dynamic higher education environment.

2021, and then ongoing

HLC staff members have taken advantage of the virtual nature of professional development during this pandemic: 32 staff members used professional development funds for trainings, credentials, and memberships with professional associations. Eight of these staff members worked towards degrees or certificates at accredited institutions.
HLC has been working to review how the Strategic Plan touches each staff member’s role at the organization. This process will be addressed at the mid-year appraisals in January/February 2022.

Goal 3: Research Need for Leadership Development Program

Conduct a feasibility study on offering a mid- and/or executive-level leadership development program for institutional leaders focused on leading in a time of transformation.

Action Steps

Survey institutions regarding their interest in/need for leadership programming on contemporary issues such as crisis management, finance, equity/student success and restoring public confidence in higher education.
Develop leadership programs based on assessments of internal and external constituents and stakeholders.
HLC Learning Opportunities
HLC Academies

Goal 4: Highlight Professional Contributions by HLC Staff

Implement an annual process for highlighting professional contributions by HLC staff to underscore HLC’s commitment to thought leadership and advocacy.

Utilize results from HLC member surveys, processes, and other feedback loops to track ongoing and emerging trends in higher education and encourage staff scholarship on selected topics.
Support staff through the completion of appropriate articles, presentations, and other professional contributions to promote thought leadership and advocacy.
Annually evaluate and report on HLC’s contributions to professional practice, advocacy, and leadership.

Goal 5: Create Regularized Plan for Improving Accreditation Processes

In response to this period of transformative change, execute a regularized plan for improving selected HLC processes to ensure that HLC remains a leader in the field of accreditation and higher education in general.

Convene conversations with member institutions, state agencies, and others, to identify opportunities for process improvements.
Review feedback from institutions, particularly from Accreditation Liaison Officers (ALOs), on effectiveness of current processes and needed improvements.
Establish “Process Improvements” as an area of focus in HLC’s regular communications with member institutions, and periodically publish details of HLC process improvements.
Leaflet newsletter

Progress on EVOLVE
EVOLVE: The 2025 Strategic Plan

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Making the transition to professional development: How organizations can navigate the journey

Transitioning to a comprehensive professional development framework is a strategic necessity for organizations that want to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Published

In today’s dynamic business environment, technological advancements and evolving market conditions require organizations to move beyond traditional upskilling toward a more holistic approach: professional development. This transition emphasizes fostering a culture of continuous learning that aligns individual career growth with broader organizational objectives. In this article, I will outline the steps involved in successfully making this transition and explore key considerations that organizations must account for along the way.

Step 1: Align organizational structure with strategic goals

The foundation of professional development lies in ensuring an organization’s structure supports its strategic goals. An organization should begin by evaluating whether its existing structure promotes flexibility, growth and adaptability. This involves conducting a detailed review of roles, responsibilities and reporting hierarchies.

A well-aligned organizational structure further facilitates professional development by ensuring that responsibilities are clearly defined and that employees at all levels have the opportunity to grow within the framework. Such a structure also promotes talent mobility across departments, enhancing the organization’s adaptability in an ever-changing environment.

Step 2: Define job frameworks and skills architecture

Once the organizational structure is aligned with strategic goals, defining a comprehensive job architecture framework is the next essential step. This framework includes clearly articulated roles, responsibilities, and the necessary skill sets across all levels. It should reflect a balance of technical, domain-specific, leadership and interpersonal (human) skills required for both current and future roles.

By mapping out the required competencies at each level, organizations can create clear career paths, and help employees better understand how they can progress and what skills they need to develop. This helps employees focus on developing relevant competencies and ensures the workforce is equipped to support long-term goals.

Step 3: Assess current capabilities and identify gaps

Conducting a comprehensive skills audit is a critical part of any transition to professional development. This audit helps identify the competencies currently present within the organization and highlights gaps in the workforce’s capabilities. This process should be data-driven, relying on performance reviews, employee assessments and feedback mechanisms to build an accurate understanding of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses.

Understanding the existing skill gaps allows organizations to design targeted development programs aimed at closing these gaps while aligning with strategic business objectives. These programs should not only address current deficiencies but also prepare employees for future challenges, fostering a proactive development culture.

Step 4: Define clear objectives and outcomes

Once gaps are identified, the organization should define clear, measurable objectives for its professional development initiatives. These objectives should align with the organization’s long-term strategic goals and can range from improving employee retention to fostering innovation and building leadership capacity. Defining specific outcomes provides a foundation for creating development programs that are focused and effective.

By establishing clear goals, organizations can better measure the success of their development programs. Objectives should follow the SMART criteria (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) to ensure accountability and enable continuous tracking of progress.

Step 5: Foster a culture of continuous learning

Transitioning to a professional development model requires a cultural shift within the organization. Learning must be seen as a continuous, integral part of every employee’s role rather than an occasional activity. This shift can be facilitated by providing employees with access to a range of learning resources, including workshops, online courses, mentorship opportunities and communities of practice.

Encouraging employees to take ownership of their development through flexible learning options and personalized learning plans also helps reinforce the importance of lifelong learning. A continuous learning culture not only improves individual performance but also contributes to the overall growth and adaptability of the organization.

Step 6: Implement personalized learning pPaths

Professional development must move beyond generic training programs and embrace personalized learning paths tailored to individual employee needs. Using AI-driven platforms and data analytics, organizations can assess individual learning styles, career aspirations and progress to create personalized learning plans.

These tailored learning paths ensure that employees acquire relevant skills that support both their personal growth and the organization’s strategic objectives. Personalization improves engagement by making the learning experience more relevant, increasing the likelihood that employees will apply their new skills to their roles.

Step 7: Establish continuous feedback mechanisms

Effective professional development requires continuous feedback loops that enable both employees and managers to assess progress, address challenges and identify growth opportunities. Establishing real-time, data-driven feedback mechanisms allows for timely adjustments to development plans and promotes accountability for both employees and their managers.

Frequent feedback ensures learning remains a dynamic process, with employees receiving the guidance they need to succeed. It also promotes a culture of transparency and accountability, which are key to continuous improvement.

Step 8: Align development with organizational strategy

Professional development programs should not only aim to enhance individual skills but also align with broader organizational strategies. For example, if an organization is focused on expanding into new markets, development programs should focus on building cross-cultural competencies, global leadership skills and adaptability.

Aligning development efforts with organizational strategy ensures the skills being developed in the workforce are directly contributing to the organization’s success. This alignment allows the organization to meet its business goals more effectively while fostering a more engaged and capable workforce.

Step 9: Measure and evaluate success

Finally, it is essential to measure the success of professional development initiatives through key performance indicators. These metrics can include employee engagement, retention rates and productivity improvements, among others. Regular evaluation ensures programs remain effective and aligned with both individual and organizational goals.

Measuring success also allows organizations to identify areas for improvement and adjust development programs accordingly. By continuously evaluating performance, organizations can ensure their development efforts achieve the desired outcomes.

Key considerations in the transition

Identifying critical skills : Organizations must invest time and energy in identifying the critical skills required to succeed in both current and future roles. These skills will form the foundation for developing effective training programs and building a more adaptable workforce.
Scalability of learning and development programs : Organizations must assess whether their current L&D programs can scale into a comprehensive professional development framework or whether new tools and systems are required to support growth.
SMART objectives : Establishing SMART goals ensures clarity in professional development initiatives and provides measurable benchmarks for tracking success.
Leadership’s role in shaping culture : Leaders must model the behavior they expect from employees by actively engaging in their own development. This signals the importance of professional growth across the organization and fosters a learning culture.
Focus on both technical and soft skills : Professional development should balance technical competencies with soft skills like leadership, communication and strategic thinking, which are essential for long-term success in a competitive environment.
Investing in feedback and tracking tools : Investing in platforms that enable real-time feedback and performance tracking helps create an adaptive and responsive professional development process.
Ongoing program alignment with strategy : Regularly revisiting and adjusting development programs ensures they remain aligned with evolving business strategies and contribute to the organization’s overall success.
Continuous evaluation and improvement : Regular assessments of development programs ensure that what is working continues to deliver value, and areas that need improvement are addressed. This continuous feedback loop fosters long-term success.

Embark on the journey

Transitioning to a comprehensive professional development framework is a strategic necessity for organizations that want to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. By aligning organizational structure with strategic goals, fostering a culture of continuous learning and implementing personalized learning paths, organizations can effectively navigate this transition.

Some key considerations—such as scalability, leadership involvement and alignment with evolving business strategies—are critical to the success of professional development initiatives. While the journey requires thoughtful planning, commitment and adaptability, the long-term rewards—enhanced employee engagement, improved performance and increased organizational agility—are well worth the effort.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the individual and do not report the official position of the organization. The article uses lived experiences and research documents to formulate the thoughts mentioned above.

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Opportunities

Principal Officer, Research and Capacity Building

Purpose of job.

The Principal Policy Officer (Research and Capacity Building) identifies and coordinates research on migration (its causes, nature, magnitude, trends, and policy implications) and coordinates the training/capacity building of Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in migration issues.

Main Functions

The Principal Policy Officer (Research & Capacity Building) will perform the following duties:

Provides overall leadership to the research and capacity-building functions of the Centre.
Coordinates the development of strategic plans for the Research & Capacity Building Unit in line with the Centre’s strategic goals, objectives, and priorities.
Presents and defends resource requirements needed to carry out the annual work plans of the Research & Capacity Building Unit.

The Principal Policy Officer (Research & Capacity Building) will play a significant role in:

Achieving the ACSRM’s mandate of deepening understanding of African migration patterns and trends and strengthening migration governance in the African continent.
Coordinating, producing,, and disseminating ACSRM’s flagship publications, including the African Migration Journal, African Migration Policy Briefs Series, African Migration Working Papers Series, and African Migration Monthly News, and identifying new ACSRM publications series.
Coordinating and providing technical expertise for ACSRM’s research projects.
Coordinating and providing technical expertise for ACSRM’s capacity-building projects.
Reviewing and providing inputs on project proposals, draft articles, technical reports, briefing notes, policy briefs, interim reports, final reports, press reviews, final reports, project reports, and memos for ACSRM’s research, policy, and capacity-building activities.
Drafting, updating, and consolidating the content of ACSRM’s website regularly.
Liaising and collaborating closely with African migration researchers, scholars, experts, policymakers, and practitioners.

Specific Responsibilities

Coordinates the development of technical proposals on research and capacity-building per the Centre’s strategic priorities.
Assists management in grant writing and mobilizing resources for the Centre’s research and capacity-building activities.
Monitors performance and prepares progress reports on the Centre’s research and capacity-building activities.
Coordinates the monitoring and evaluation of programmes under the Research & Capacity Building Unit.
Coordinates and contributes to the production and finalization of ACSRM’s publications.
Coordinates and updates the ACSRM’s experts and researchers’ database.
Liaises with African migration experts, researchers, and global migration scholars for their potential contribution as authors and reviewers of manuscripts to be published in the African Migration Journal, flagship publications, and other ACSRM publication outlets.
Leads, coordinates, and organizes ACSRM’s policy debates, research, capacity-building, advocacy seminars, webinar series, summer schools, and other events.
Leads, coordinates, and provides inputs to the publications of the content of ACSRM’s website and its updates regularly.
Provides technical inputs and assistance on requests on migration and related issues submitted by the African Union, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Member States, local and international partners, experts, researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders.
Leads, coordinates, and assists in developing ACSRM’s research and capacity-building projects and addressing the administrative, financial, managerial, and technical aspects.
Supervises the work of interns, consultants, and junior researchers and advises on the selection of consultants and experts for ACSRM’s activities.
Leads, coordinates, and provides inputs in drafting, reviewing, and editing articles for peer-reviewed journals, briefing notes, strategy documents, regular regional/continental/national reports, technical reports, working papers, policy briefs, white papers, memos, concept notes, project proposals and related project documentation, speeches, PowerPoint Presentations, training materials, conference materials and proceedings, project reporting, technical documents, and other papers produced by the Centre.
Draft peer-reviewed journal articles, briefing notes, policy-oriented papers, strategy documents, regular regional/continental reports, and capacity-building and training materials on migration issues.
Coordinates the overall activities of the African Migration Journal, an international peer-reviewed journal on African migration published by the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (ACSRM).
Represents the Centre at relevant national/regional/continental/international seminars and conferences and promotes the ACSRM’s work during these events.
Stay up-to-date on relevant theoretical and methodological approaches, policy debates, and academic literature on migration.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Deputy Director.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

Master’s degree in Migration Studies, Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Political Science, Geography, Demography and Population Studies, International relations, Law, Development Studies, Refugee Studies, Humanitarian affairs, or other related disciplines and fields with a concentration on migration, from an accredited academic institution, with a total of ten (10) years of relevant work experience. A Master’s degree concentrating on migration will be an asset.
Bachelor’s degree in similar fields of study with twelve (12) years of relevant work experience
Three (3) and six (6) years out of total experience need to be at supervisory and expert/specialist levels, respectively.
A Ph.D. in Migration Studies or Political/ Social Sciences/ Humanities/ Economics/ Legal International Relations, Law, or Development Studies or other social sciences-related disciplines with a concentration on migration will be an added advantage
Relevant work experience needs to be continuous and combined in the following areas:
Solid experience in drafting peer-reviewed journals’ articles, reports, technical papers, policy briefs, meeting and project reports, etc. on migration issues in general, and on African migration in particular.
Solid experience in conducting research and training in migration or related areas.
Demonstrated experience in a migration research institute, academic institution or international organization, conducting research, analysing, and publishing on migration, focusing on African migration issues.
Solid experience implementing large-scale migration projects and programmes, emphasizing project development, strategic planning, research, training/capacity building, policy development and policy implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
Comprehensive knowledge of theories, methods, and training tools on migration.
Excellent understanding of the research and policy agenda on migration.
Excellent knowledge of various aspects of African migration, the research agenda on migration in the continent, and the training and capacity-building needs of African Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on African migration.
Excellent knowledge of the global/international agenda on migration and its implications on the African continent.
Excellent knowledge of the African Union, RECs, and international instruments related to migration.
Proven experience interacting with international and regional public partner agencies.
Proven track record of working and liaising with high-level government and donor officials.
Demonstrated experience organizing workshops, conferences, expert meetings, and training seminars for various audiences (Government officials, RECs, researchers, experts, lecturers, students, practitioners, media, etc., interested in African migration issues).
Demonstrated experience liaising with experts, researchers, lecturers, students, and practitioners on migration issues.
Demonstrable experience in supervising and leading junior researchers, interns, and consultants’ teams and delegating tasks and authority.
Demonstrable experience in drafting technical documents for executive-level consumption.
Demonstrable experience in peer-review and editing technical and policy documents.
An understanding of the African Union’s way of working and managing associated relationships with Member States/RECs and partners is preferred.

Required Skills

Technical expertise and experience in supporting and managing complex programmes, particularly in social research and training/capacity building.
Excellent analytical skills to respond to emerging and complex migration trends. and to develop, apply, and, adjust programme strategies and policies to further the agency’s mission, goals, and objectives.
Excellent skills in conceptualizing, planning, developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs.
Excellent past track record in publishing academic publications, especially articles in leading local and international peer-reviewed journals on migration issues, an asset.
Excellent past track record in publishing policy-oriented publications and technical reports directed to Government officials, international organizations, NGOs, and relevant stakeholders.
Excellent knowledge in editing, reviewing, and coordinating the publications of academic and policy-oriented papers (articles, working papers, policy briefs, technical reports, meeting reports, national, regional, and continental reports).
Excellent past track record in managing and carrying out research and capacity-building projects and activities.
Excellent track record in developing grant proposals for research funding and securing funding for research, training, and capacity-building projects and activities.
Demonstrated ability to present research findings and represent the Centre during seminars, workshops, and international conferences.
Excellent ability to liaise and develop strategic relations with experts, researchers, government officials, policymakers, academic and research institutions, think tanks, international organizations, NGOs, migrant and diasporas organizations, civil society organizations, etc., to identify, develop and conduct new research studies and opportunities in line with the ACSRM’s thematic areas.
Excellent ability to liaise diplomatically, good representational skills, and experience interacting with various stakeholders and decision-makers to build strong collaborative relationships with governments and partners (State and non-State actors).
Strong written and oral communication skills, particularly proven ability to write clear and concise reports and solid experience linking research findings with policy debates, options, and programming decisions.
Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.
Flexibility and smooth adaptation to a changing working environment.
Excellent ability to deliver under tight deadlines, work autonomously, and ensure a strong team spirit.
Excellent project planning and management skills for organizing, planning, and executing projects from conception through implementation.
Demonstrated ability about computer skills, including excellent word-processing capabilities, proficiency with e-mail and internet applications, and PowerPoint, and expertise using office software applications such as MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
Excellent command of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including analyzing qualitative and quantitative data using relevant software (for instance: NVIVO, Atlas-ti for qualitative data, and SPSS and STATA for quantitative data) and excellent ability to create and maintain databases using relevant software (R, SQL, etc.), an asset.
Excellent knowledge in creating and updating websites, including developing content for the website, an asset.
Demonstrated ability to disseminate information, research findings, policy, and advocacy materials for large and various audiences (Senior Government officials, experts, researchers, students, academic and think tank partners, practitioners, media, migrant and diasporas organizations, NGOs, international organizations, etc.).
Demonstrated ability to disseminate knowledge and information through social media.
Ability to work in an international and multicultural environment and maintain positive, collegial, and strong relationships with colleagues and external stakeholders.
An excellent command of at least one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Kiswahili). Knowledge of any of the other five will be an added advantage

Leadership Competencies

Core competencies, functional competencies.

TENURE OF APPOINTMENT:

The appointment will be made on a regular term contract for a period of three (3) years, of which the first twelve months shall be considered as a probationary period. Thereafter, the contract will be for a period of two years renewable, subject to satisfactory performance and deliverables.

GENDER MAINSTREAMING:

The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

End Date: October 04, 2024

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Programme Consultant – Governance, Women’s Leadership and Political Participation (Home Based)

Advertised on behalf of.

Harare, ZIMBABWE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Oct-2024

Application Deadline :

18-Sep-24 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Time left :, languages required :.

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

In Zimbabwe UN Women is implementing a Programme on Governance and Participation in Public Life. The Programme focuses on strengthening capacities of women to participate in politics, leadership and decision making and supporting interventions to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) for Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) 1325.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist for Women’s Political Participation the Consultant will provide the technical support and oversight required for the implementation of the political participation and women peace and security thematic portfolio in the Country Office ; support capacity and skills-enhancement of staff and partners in country; establish and strengthen partnerships; and develop relevant knowledge products on political participation and women peace security . The scope of work of the Consultant to support Women’s Political Participation, Peace and Security requires experience in and in-depth understanding of gender equality and women’s political empowerment and leadership to translate UN-Women Strategic Note into effective programmes and results in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Support in the formulation of Programme Strategy:

Thorough situational analysis and research on the country context and preparation of substantive inputs to Strategic Plan, Annual Work Plans, budgets, and proposals on programme implementation arrangements.
Identification of areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned.
Ensure implementation of components of the programme to align with the Annual/Biannual Work Plan;
Prepare briefing materials, power-points and talking points to support Policy Specialist for Governance, Women’s Political Participation.
Identify sources and gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches, and position papers.

Programme Management Support:

Support organization and implementation of the programmatic and policy advice; schedule partner meetings, partner grant management , record of minutes :
Support efforts for resource mobilization, including programme development as well as associated communication material.
Support donor reporting, monitoring, and reporting.
Provide support to the country office on routine implementation of projects, tracking use of financial resources.
Provide necessary information for the audit of programmes/projects and support implementation of audit recommendations.
Support the Country Office mid -term review process including compilation of inputs and feedback.

Provide technical assistance and capacity development support to project/programme partners:

Provide technical support to country offices and other partners in the implementation of programme activities.
Identify opportunities for capacity building of country offices and partners in the thematic areas and coordinate and facilitate technical/ programming support and trainings as needed.
Monitor progress on programme activity, results, and indicators.
Provide inputs to quarterly reports, donor reports and other reports on outputs, results outputs, and outcomes.

Provide inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts:

Provide technical inputs to background documents, briefs and presentations related to Governance & Women’s Political Participation and Leadership.
Coordinate and support the organization of advocacy activities and campaigns events, trainings, workshops, and knowledge products.
Provide inputs to the development of knowledge management products in the thematic area.
Ensure information and updates are shared with relevant thematic networks, communities of practice and reference groups.
Provide quality assurance of COs’ knowledge products in line with corporate strategies.
Support management of the Projects, including through codifying lessons learned and good practices from the partners.

Manage the resource mobilization strategy in the area of women’s political participation in the region:

Develop a regional strategy/proposal on WPP and undertake targeted resource mobilization in this thematic area.
Develop tailored concept notes, provide technical support to offices with resource mobilization efforts in this area.
Prepare and/or deliver presentations to the development partners on this topic.

Results/Expected Outputs:

Timely and quality inputs to programme development.
Timely and quality implementation of Programme/Portfolio/ activities against set workplans, timelines, and budgets, in line with the Strategic Note and Bi-Annual Work Plan.
Timely and quality technical assistance.
Quality and timely inputs to reporting.
Strong relations with partners and stakeholders.
Enhanced best practices and lessons learned documented and circulated.
ESARO regional strategy and proposal finalised

Competencies

Core Values:

Respect for Diversity
Professionalism

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
Accountability
Creative Problem Solving
Effective Communication
Inclusive Collaboration
Stakeholder Engagement
Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills.
Good knowledge of Results Based Management.
Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations.
Good analytical skills.
Good knowledge of technical area.
Ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities, and threats to resource mobilisation.

Required Skills and Experience

Position Requirements:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Law, Human Rights, International Development, Gender Studies, Political Science, International Relations, or other related fields.

Work Experience:

At least seven years of relevant work experience in the development of programme/project implementation, and capacity building; preferably in governance and political participation.
Experience and understanding of implementing human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment projects and initiatives.
Knowledge of and previous experience working on governance and women’s political participation and leadership in Zimbabwe or Southern Africa .
Technical experience in Women’s political participation, preferably with field experience in managing and/or overseeing related programmes, including policy development.
Experience in research and documentation of women’s political participation issues such as violence against women in elections.
Experience working in the UN System at regional or national level.
Experience working with government and CSOs on Women Peace and Security , on governance and women’s political participation.
Fluency in English is required.
Knowledge of any other UN official working language is an asset.

How to Apply:

Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)

Anyone Can Learn to Be a Better Leader

by Monique Valcour

Summary .

Occupying a leadership position is not the same thing as leading. To lead, you must be able to connect, motivate, and inspire a sense of ownership of shared objectives. Heightening your capacity to lead others requires being able to see how you think and act, and how your behavior affects others. Leading well requires a continuous journey of personal development. Yet people in leadership roles often eschew the long and challenging work of deepening self-insight in favor of chasing after management “tools”— preferably the “quick ’n’ easy” kind, such as personality type assessments that reduce employees to a few simplistic behavioral tendencies. Tools can be handy aids to good leadership. But none of them can take the place of fearless introspection, feedback seeking, and committed efforts to behavioral change for greater effectiveness and increased positive impact on others.

When you’re an individual contributor, your ability to use your technical expertise to deliver results is paramount. Once you’ve advanced into a leadership role, however, the toolkit that you relied on to deliver individual results rarely equips you to succeed through others. Beware of falling into the logical trap of “if I can do this work well, I should be able to lead a team of people who do this work.” This would be true if leading others were akin to operating a more powerful version of the same machinery you operated previously. But it’s not; machinery doesn’t perform better or worse based on what it thinks about you and how you make it feel, while humans do .

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