1. Experience / Field Assignments
2. Smart Content / Curriculum
3. Action Learning
4. Simulation or small scale operation
5. Mentoring and coaching
6. Teaching others
7. Feedforward
8. Team balance and alignment
9. Involvement and engagement
10. Accountability for results

The Adizes Institute creates an integrated network of professionals and leaders who practice structural, systemic and participative change on every level. They are committed to being a world leader in researching the unifying theory and practice of change based on mutual trust and respect. They also teach their clients how to prepare for transitions that organizations make and also how to optimize performance during these transitions. www.adizes.com

Preparing engaged educational experts who are sensitive and responsive to the contextual bases of teaching, learning, and development is the scope of the Department of Educational Leadership. Students who participate in this program acquire experience on a practical, theoretical and clinical level. The program reinforces professional expertise through advanced coursework, projects, authentic experiences, and leadership. Participants also use their professional leadership skills to serve and bless the lives of all with whom they come in contact. There is definitely a culture of high leadership expectations in this department, and it shows. www.bsu.edu/edleadership

The Baptist Leadership Institute is rich in leadership experience. More than 7,500 professionals from all 50 states have come to Pensacola to participate in offerings by the Leadership Institute. Additionally, the faculty of the Leadership Institute have provided on-site training to over 40,000 professionals. The Leadership Institute's consistency of programs systematically deploys each service excellence initiative throughout the organization and brings accountability to the process, with their 12-month and 90-day plans. In every case their clients have experienced some level of success in either patient satisfaction and/or employee satisfaction as a result of implementing the processes and practices of the Leadership Institute. Before prospective employees even fill out an application, they are asked to sign a document agreeing to their standards of performance. It sets the stage for what they expect, and shows that candidate that everyone is committed to excellence from day one. www.baptistleadershipinstitute.com

Manager integration is the main focus of evaluation for leadership development programs at Best Buy. One of Best Buy's values is "unleash the power of our people." One way they do this is to allow those in positions of influence and leadership to facilitate some of their key courses. Depending on the audience, nearly all of Best Buy's training contained elements around leadership development and direct connections as to how an individual - - regardless of level - - can contribute to the transformation that they are currently pursuing. www.bestbuy.com

Carilion's leadership principles focus on identifying and applying individual strengths, while developing new areas of business and leadership expertise. Each leader's development, industry -savvy, and business expertise contributes to Carilion's mission and the success of the organization. As a result of participating in the Carilion Leadership Institute, participants come away with a clear understanding of how their learning links specifically to the current business goals and knowledge on how to apply their leadership capabilities to their real work projects. www.carilion.com

DAU is recognized as one of the top corporate learning organizations in America This past year, DAU delivered 95 courses to nearly 104,000 people. The programs are specifically designed to meet individual leadership development needs in an organizational context. In addition, this past year DAU provided certification training as part of career professional certification requirements for more than 134,000 government leaders and technical professionals across 14 career fields. These courses provide a strong foundation of knowledge, skills, and leadership abilities necessary for the workforce to perform on the job. www.dau.mil

Dialogos's mission is to develop the leadership capacity of individuals, enhance the collective intelligence of organizations, and promote profound change in complex systems. Their leadership development program, "Leadership for Collective Intelligence" (LCI), embodies this mission. The content and curriculum of LCI grows out of 20 years of experience with leadership development and organizational learning. The program has influenced Dialogos by compelling them to remain engaged with cutting-edge research and practice, team learning, and also enhance their effectiveness in delivering consulting services. www.dialogos.com

All successful organizations accomplish their missions through effective leadership, especially in rapidly changing environments, and the FBI is no exception. The FBI has adopted a values-based, transformational leadership model that retains the core values that led to past successes and establishes strategic priorities to meet future challenges. The FBI has designed an extensive leadership training framework that allows FBI leaders the opportunity to learn foundational leadership concepts and core values. www.fbi.gov

Guttman Development Strategies leadership development programs bring about measurable bottom-line results, including new product launches, decreased time to market, additional projects completed within the determined time limit, higher revenue, and improved profitability. Clients of Guttman Development Strategies report a dramatic increase in business results achieved at every level of their organization. www.guttmandev.com

Since 1985, the Lebow Company has been helping organizations create Heroic Environments® that transform the workplace into an environment where everyone is expected to be personally involved, responsible, and accountable for their performance, decisions, and behavior. Employees are free to act the way they really want to act - Heroically. These individuals operate in an environment where all staff members act as leaders within the context of their chosen and defined roles. www.lebowco.com

LGE Performance Systems is committed to being the world leader in the application of scientifically based performance technologies to empower individuals and organizations to maximize performance and health in high stress arenas. LGE's leadership programs focus on engagement, productivity, and retention. The strength of LGE's leadership programs lies in its unique content and places a strong emphasis on engagement, productivity, and retention. www.lgeperformance.com

Marshall Goldsmith Partners helps successful leaders achieve a positive, measurable change in behavior: for themselves, their people, and their teams. They have performed published research with more than 86,000 respondents and 11,000 leaders in eight major corporations. Their work produces consistently positive, measurable results for their clients. www.marshallgoldsmith.com

The purpose of the Leadership at McDonald's Program (LAMP) is to accelerate the development of high potential leaders in a way that drives results, shapes organizational culture and builds leadership depth. The framework used to guide leadership development is based upon three leadership challenges: leading oneself, leading high performance teams and leading the organization. The goal of this program element is to expose participants to thinking of individuals outside the McDonald's system in order to broaden their thinking and exposure beyond the "Golden Arches." www.mcdonalds.com

Plante & Moran employees have an effective leadership development strategy, in which they place high emphasis on satisfied clients and high performance. Leadership at Plante & Moran is helping both clients and employees thrive. Employees find satisfaction in using their leadership skills and abilities to participate in volunteer endeavors and to help their communities become better places to live and work. www.plantemoran.com

Qualcomm has an outstanding leadership development program. Leaders obtain the goals of the company, as a result of a well-designed program, aligned with vision and strategy. They were ranked for their strong leadership development strategy and initiatives, including Next Generation Leadership and Leadership 2005, which place a strong emphasis on strategy, global leadership, creative thinking, and innovation. Qualcomm's quest is to develop and sustain leaders at all levels. www.qualcomm.com

Simonton University is committed to developing employees personally and professionally. Their Leadership Challenge mission is to provide current and emerging leaders with the tools they need to be successful in an open, experiential and fun atmosphere. As part of the Leadership Challenge, employees have the opportunity to participate in a 10-day leadership certificate program. Simonton Windows also places strong emphasis on ROLI (Return on Learning Investment), receiving an 8:1 return-on-investment on leadership training. www.simonton.com

Employees at Synthesis Consulting strive to teach people how to tackle tough leadership challenges in front of them - forever. Using the Leader's Toolbox tools® and processes, individuals have the opportunity to see great results on a continual basis. The Leader's Toolbox tools® and processes program contains content from some of the finest organizational thinkers and practitioners. www.leadingforachange.com

The University of Michigan Business School has trained 37,000 business leaders in nearly 100 countries. At the core of its pursuit is "intellectual capital with impact"---the ideas Michigan faculty bring to the classroom and both faculty and executives use to shape the world. One of the most visible examples of big idea research is Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), a new movement pioneered at the Michigan Business School. Harvard Business School Review (HBR) has identified POS as one of 20 "Breakthrough Ideas for 2004." POS focuses on the dynamics in organizations that develop human strength, produce resilience, foster vitality, and cultivate extraordinary individuals and corporate growth. Their programs are designed to be "learning laboratories," aimed at eliciting high-level thinking from the participants and engaging them in working on current business challenges. www.umich.edu

Having researched more than 25,000 people in hundreds of organizations over the past twenty-five years, VitalSmarts focuses on specific critical behaviors and learnable skills that the most vital organizations and individuals use to achieve results and to develop leaders. The VitalSmarts approach to organization change helps leaders bring about rapid and sustainable change in the vital behaviors that lead to significant and measurable improvement in performance. www.vitalsmarts.com

Zenger | Folkman exists to revolutionize leadership and organization development through empirical research, innovations in development methods and the employment of software tools that drive more effective implementations. Zenger | Folkman provides the architecture and many key components for companies wanting to grow their leadership talent. Based on the research and insights presented in the Zenger | Folkman leadership development programs, participants learn to think quite differently about their own development and the way they develop others. They learn that the target is to develop GREAT leaders, rather than just good ones. They are presented with a new conceptual model of leadership, a revolutionary view of leadership competencies and fresh, innovative paths to developing leadership skills. www.zfco.com

Baptist Health Care responds:

1. A lack of leadership development signals the presence of a culture of low-to-no-accountability.
   
   Instead of a lack of accountability, many organizations are struggling with a lack of alignment. They are fundamentally misaligned because senior leadership has not communicated and followed through on the importance of developing leaders. Is it then any wonder we are challenged by accountability, when we haven't taught leaders what accountability is and how to hold others accountable?


2. A lack of leadership development means leaders are spending time doing their jobs, not perfecting their roles.
   
   The role of a leader is coaching, mentoring, guiding, developing, recognizing, challenging, and teaching. In cultures where leadership development is not valued, leaders fall back on just doing their jobs and ignore their roles. Here's where the notion of "doing my job" becomes so seductive: "If I keep doing my job, I will stay busy, thus creating the appearance of effectiveness."


3. No leadership development usually means clogged arteries.
   
   Clogged arteries are those places in an organization's decision and permission flow where cultural progress is put on hold—and they kill. We've all seen it. We get some momentum toward cultural health, and then it dies, a victim of poor leadership. Clogged arteries can be cured by leadership development, and here's how: The fact that leaders are being developed in their roles means that they sometimes will be away from their jobs. Leadership development not only sharpens your skills, but develops someone else's in your presence.

If these symptoms are present in your company or organization, consider improving your leadership development efforts. Or better yet, at your next strategy session, ask about the organization’s approach to leadership development. If the answer is less than satisfactory, bring up these three points. In the meantime, practice your role, not just your job, and watch others grow with you.