Leadership development is about the medium, not the method

I spent the last week with a senior leadership team in beautiful South Wales to deliver a client-centred development programme.

By the end, the leaders hadn’t just become more mindful and skilled in holding powerful conversations, they had become a team where people look out for each other.

On these programmes we see time and again that people come away subtly transformed.

This transformation is difficult to explain in words, even by those who experience it. And every person experiences it differently.

It’s not the course content that brings about the transformation – it’s the relational environment in which it happens.

When people feel seen and are able to open up, everything changes. Job titles go out the window, real people come to the fore, and the team makes a leap forward in terms of trust and understanding.

People and teams are transformed by the medium – not the method. Coaching tools are part of the process, but it’s mostly about presence.

In the learning business we call this vertical development: you grow not just as a leader but as a person. And the team will be stronger for it.

Thanks to my co-facilitator Tony Reilly at Consulting for Real People for another powerful week.