Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2021 - 20

Here, we will examine the benefits of
two often neglected, but crucial, levers
where training can build the capabilities
of diverse leaders - extended rotational
programs and sponsorship programs.

GAPS IN FORMAL
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Fully realized leadership training
focuses on level-specific technical
and interpersonal skills, covering
topics from policies and procedures to
giving effective feedback and solving
strategic problems. Yet, the majority of
this training lives in the realm of formal
learning - instructor-led classrooms or
training content delivered via video or
other modalities.
What's missing from this prescriptive
solution set? Critical elements of
how great leaders learn, such as
opportunities to practice new skills on the
job and leverage social learning, are often
neglected in learning experience design.
It also discounts the benefits of expansive
cross-organizational experience. As
Herminia Ibarra observed in her 2019
Harvard Business Review article, " A Lack
of Sponsorship Is Keeping Women
from Advancing into Leadership, "
most CEOs are not selected from staff
positions but from positions with greater
responsibility in major projects, budgets
and revenue streams - positions that
often have the least diversity.
By
integrating
structured
crossfunctional rotations and sponsorship
programs, learning leaders can both
leverage the value of informal learning
and expand the range of experiences
leaders need to increase their
capabilities and visibility.

INTEGRATING EXTENDED
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ROTATIONS
Some organizations have experimented
with training leaders at varying points
in the pipeline in functions across
the business, but these are often too
limited in scope or time and do not
provide opportunities for disciplined

| 20

RETHINKING
CROSS-TRAINING LEADERSHIP
Provide opportunities for high-quality,
on-the-job training and practice by
utilizing:
* Extended role exchanges: Two
leaders exchange jobs for a given
period of time.
* Co-leader rotations: An experienced
leader in a particular area partners
with a new leader to lead the function
together for a prescribed period
of time.

practice. For example, in new manager
development programs, participants
often rotate through departments across
the organization for two weeks at a time.
It's nice exposure, but it doesn't provide
enough hands-on practice to develop
necessary competencies.
How do we fix this? First, we need to
recognize that formal training only gets us
so far. It might expand awareness, but it
rarely provides opportunities for practice
that prepare leaders to perform in the
real world. As Sam Shriver articulated
in the May/June 2020 issue of Training
Industry Magazine, high-quality practice
opportunities are essential.
Examples of programmatic solutions that
provide exposure, high-quality practice
opportunities and visibility include
extended role exchange programs and
co-leader rotations. Either could be
as short as six months or extend over
several years.
A role exchange is exactly what it sounds
like: Two leaders exchange jobs for a
prescribed period of time. For example,
an organization pilots a structured role
exchange between the regional heads
of operations and sales. In the lead-up
to the exchange, the two leaders meet
regularly to teach each other the critical
requirements of their roles. In addition,
the firm sets clear expectations for the
two leaders' relationship as safety nets
and coaches for one another. The two

candidates establish their own schedule
for regular check-ins and peer coaching
to provide support.
During the six-month exchange, both
identify opportunities to improve
processes
and
build
broader
understanding - for themselves
and their teams - of where the two
departments intersect and opportunities
to collaborate better. As a result, they
jointly propose and manage two projects:
One to solve an operational inefficiency
and one to build and pilot an additional
revenue-generating opportunity. Both
leaders are promoted to new positions
within a year; management notes that
their expanded capabilities and visibility
were instrumental to the organization.
Co-leader rotations take a similar
approach, with one key difference: One
leader with experience in a particular
area partners with a new leader to lead
the function together for a prescribed
period of time. One option is to then
have the " new " co-head continue in the
role while the more experienced cohead then rotates to another area.

LEARNING PROFESSIONALS
HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO
HELP THEIR ORGANIZATIONS
DO BETTER.
Both possibilities promote increased
contact, a remedy suggested by authors
Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kaley in
their Harvard Business Review article
" Why Diversity Programs Fail, " by
exposing tenured leaders to a more
diverse talent pipeline, positively
affecting
diversity
and
inclusion
throughout the organization.
To establish either of these, training must
collaborate closely with HR to determine
selection requirements, set expectations
and establish structures. In addition,
prospective rotation participants may
need formal training or coaching to

https://www.trainingindustry.com/research/content-development/deconstructing-70-20-10/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/research/content-development/deconstructing-70-20-10/ https://www.hbr.org/2019/08/a-lack-of-sponsorship-is-keeping-women-from-advancing-into-leadership https://www.hbr.org/2019/08/a-lack-of-sponsorship-is-keeping-women-from-advancing-into-leadership https://www.hbr.org/2019/08/a-lack-of-sponsorship-is-keeping-women-from-advancing-into-leadership https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine/may-jun-2020/practice-doesnt-make-perfect-perfect-practice-makes-perfect-an-in-depth-study-of-virtual-leadership-development/ https://www.hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-fail

Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2021

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