In order to focus and align leadership development with organizational needs and strategy, the first step is to define the leadership requirements. We work with your executive team to identify the capabilities and behaviors needed to create a leadership culture aligned with your strategy. This is the critical first step in leadership development. Since there is no single right way to lead an organization, it is critical for you to select the matrix of leadership practices that is right for your organization.

By clearly defining the strategic leadership practices that your organization needs to carry out its strategy, the entire organization gains clarity and consensus about leadership expectations. This process sets the standard for objective performance expectations and allows you to drive accountability through every level of your organization. It will also help you to focus your other training and development initiatives to meet critical leadership needs. Aligning leadership capabilities with organizational strategy is the right starting point. It provides a road map for change and builds the commitment needed for long-term success.

Assessing Current Leadership Capabilities and Culture

Assessment is a core competency of our leadership practice.  We can assess each leader against your defined future leadership requirements or assess the collective impact of the current leadership team on your culture or assess how engaged your employees are at any point in time.  Assessing your current leadership culture and capabilities provides the baseline for change. 

Leadership assessments should be based on defined behaviors that the organization recognizes are critical for achieving success in the future. This provides individuals with objective, persuasive insights and enables them to focus and prioritize their developmental efforts. Quantitative assessment and a structured, facilitated feedback process is clear, non-threatening and focused exclusively on development. The feedback flows directly into identifying developmental goals, mapping a practical plan for achieving them and putting the plan into effect. This information along with additional measures that Kensington International helps develop will also provide the data needed for Talent Reviews, Succession Planning and high potential leader identification.

Growing Leadership Capabilities

Talent Development is focused on growing leadership capabilities so leaders are prepared for future challenges or are able to address gaps in current performance. Leadership or lack of leadership impacts the effectiveness of teams and employee engagement. Our Talent Development considers all these implications as we plan the scope of our work with our clients.

For Individuals

When working with leaders, we begin by assessing their situation and exploring their feedback. A key to our process is assisting the leaders in conducting critical conversations with their boss and other observer groups to conclude their top development priorities. Specific action plans follow that enhance the leaders’ performance in their current roles and prepare them for new responsibilities.

Executive coaching adds the dimension of accountability with the coach acting as an advisor and confidant for leaders. Building leadership capability and capacity aligned to your strategy is the single greatest leverage point to change organizational culture, enhance performance and achieve results.

For Teams

When working with teams, we initiate the team building process with a baseline assessment to understand the team’s strengths and weaknesses. Through facilitated sessions and individual follow up, the team learns how to build trust, rigorously debate issues, reach decisions and hold each other accountable for results.

For Engagement

Engagement is a barometer of productivity and leaders that are able to monitor that barometer are better positioned to adjust whatever is needed to correct drops in productivity. Intuitively, leaders know that large change initiatives will impact employee productivity. They are typically prepared with programs and conversations with employees to minimize any impact. The more dangerous drop in productivity is what happens over the normal course of business, when employees disengage over time. Our work in this area provides leaders and teams with insight on how best to enhance their organization through their leadership, recognition and communication.