How to Maximize the Return on a Leadership Training Course

In today's economic environment every business is looking to maximize the return on investment. One of the hardest things to figure out can be the return on investment for leadership development training. It's easy to recognize the need for a leadership training course, but how to calculate the return on investment is another matter. Some would say it is easier get a consensus definition of leadership than it is to calculate the return on investment in leadership training.

The best way to calculate the return on investment of a leadership training course is to have a shift in how leadership training is viewed. In most cases, leadership training is viewed as a way to improve the competencies of someone in a leadership position. For example, if you have a leader that does a poor job in their leadership communication, you get leadership development training to improve that competency.

In order to calculate a return on investment for a leadership training course you have to go one step further than just looking at the competency. You have to look at the results of having the competency in place. In other words, if this leader had the competency of effective leadership communication, what would having that competency allow the organization to achieve. Once you begin to focus on the results, then you can more easily calculate the return on investment for the training.

Using our previous example, let's say that after the leader completes a leadership course on communication the turnover in the leader's department declines by 5%. That 5% reduction represents a part of the return on investment. There may be other areas that are positively impacted also.

When making a decision on leadership training, you want to calculate the potential return on investment before the training begins. It is much better to know going in what you want to get out of the training and the impact the training will have.

To maximize the return on investment, there has to be a way to reinforce the training after the training event. Most leadership courses are one, two, or three day workshop events. What happens in the training is participants learn leadership concepts and ways to apply the concepts. What usually is missing is practicing the leadership concepts and getting feedback or coaching from the instructor.

What that means is when the participant gets back to the workplace they need to practice the leadership concepts learned in the training. Not only do they need to practice, they also need to get feedback on how well they are developing the skills they learned. Without having a process set up in advance, there is a very strong chance that your investment in leadership development training will be wasted. The old saying is so true: "if you don't use it, you will lose it."

Having a coaching and mentoring program is an excellent way to reinforce the leadership concepts learned in the training. The mentor or coach can observe and give feedback as well as recommend additional things that would enhance the development of the person.

Calculating and maximizing return on investment in leadership development training does not have to be a vague concept. Implement the suggestions here and you will want to invest in the leaders of your organization.

Why Organizational Leadership Training Should Create Visionary Leaders

Organizational leadership training courses should help leaders create statements of vision, convincingly communicate their missions and connect visionary leadership strategies to their daily practice of leading others.

Business leadership training and executive management training programs which empower leaders and give them tools, techniques and principles for presenting the vitality and inspirational elements of their visions will usually produce more successful leaders.

How can organizational leadership training help you develop vision statements and enable your missions to achieve the most demanding business improvement and executive management goals?

You'll know how effective the visionary modules of your organizational leadership training and development efforts have been when your actions begin to payoff in producing these three fundamental imperatives :

    1) You provide your followers with a compelling yet desirable vision of their possibilities which ensure their endeavors will result in achievements of lasting value;

    2) You write your envisioned mission in clear, plain language so that your associates are able to run with and carry its meaning forward to others;

    3) Your use the vision to indicate an appointed, yet significant time in the future and even though it appears to be delayed in coming, it will eventually become your reality.

Are You Becoming the Visionary Leader Others Need You to be?

"To be or not to be, that is the question." - William Shakespeare

The challenge facing your organizational leadership training program is simply this - your business leadership or executive management training must prepare you to robustly serve the growth needs of your people by:


    - Helping them shape their desires, dreams and destinies
    - Enabling them to transcend their doubts, fears or anxiety of change,
    - Empowering them to achieve the tangible, essential realistic products of the vision

You can best demonstrate your wisdom as well as your visionary leadership skills by physically and psychologically engaging your key partners and stakeholders in the development and expansion of your vision statements.

Your visioning process would involve those important people by employing their intellectual inputs of judgment, knowledge and imagination coupled with the emotional capital of their willingness, commitment and confidence.

Well-designed organizational leadership training courses can transform your latent talents into visionary leadership excellence. Business leadership training workshops or executive management training programs which feature elements of visioning and visionary leadership are worth their weight in gold.