When a dog lies down on command—that’s training. When Fido places an online order for a doggy bed, then lies down—that’s development.

Training is about learning to do things; development is about thinking things through and deciding to do things differently. Another way to put it is that training is about “doing” while development is about “being”.

So is leadership trained or developed? Most people would say developed. If so, then why do so many employees attend leadership training courses? Is it only semantics?

Could it be that leadership training focuses mainly on external behaviors (think Situational Leadership), while leadership development focuses on acquiring the emotional and thinking skills needed to inspire and motivate others?

When organizations deign leadership programs they should think about training to “DO” and development to “BE”—or in the immortal words of Frank, “DOBE-DOBE-DO”.

Comments

 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Our Recent HR Blog Posts

• Dealing with a Toxic Boss
• Company Policy for Instant Messaging and Text Messaging
• The Grapevine: Informal Lines of Communication
• A Free Communication Method that is Thousands of Years Old!
• When Do Teams Make Sense?

Quote of the Day

Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present. ~ Rudy Giuliani