You know for a fact that they never walked a step in your moccasins, so how is it that they were in the front of the room insisting you do your job the way they tell you to do it?
What were the trust falls all about? What about the new age music during breaks?
Why did their proposed "communication models" feel stale and inapplicable to your day-to-day job? Do they really expect you to say those things to your people? If they knew you or your people, they would know that you would never - could never - say such words.
Sure, you're all for recognizing and rewarding good behavior, but what do you do with the knuckleheads on your team who don't really add a stitch of value?
Isn't there something out there that's more meaningful, practical and applicable to you and your team?
Look, I design and deliver leadership and management training (http://www.one2oneleadership.com/), so I don't want it to go away entirely as an industry. I just want to readjust the focus. I want to set aside the word "leadership" in leadership training, because it seems to be getting in the way.
Leadership training has become a predictably fluffy and theoretical exercise that seems to be more focused on a moment-in-time "inspiration" for the participants (which then, presumably, is expected to be passed on to their direct reports after the training) rather than a learning exercise that provides participants with concrete tools that they can apply to their specific team in their specific company. There's nothing inherently wrong with inspiration - it's just that the impact is fleeting, and almost never leads to lasting, tangible results.
I want to participate in a movement away from leadership training and towards management training. Let's concretize the training experience. Let's not make it only about inspiration and group hugs and celebrations of success. Let's make it more applicable to the specific participants and their specific employees in their specific work environments. Let's allow for the fact that your team might have some losers on it...those who just won't cut it. Let's acknowledge that there is a wide range of personality and talent on your team, and that you need to tailor your style to each team member to maximize the productivity each can deliver.
I don't want to end the dialogue about leadership and management - I just want to shift it so the managers who are the intended recipients can actually put it to use.
About Sean O'Neil
Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks. Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management: Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011. Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
