D.I.Y. Development: Leadership Advantage
Linda Callecod, Senior Consultant, Professional & Organizational Development
In my years as both a manager and an organizational development consultant, it’s become apparent to me that most leaders understand what leaders are supposed to do. They understand fundamental leadership concepts and can recite what others might need or expect of them. The problem for many, however, comes with finding the time and the tools to translate this understanding into concrete action.
As busy leaders, we don’t always have the bandwidth to attend an in-person training. Sometimes we need to get to the nuts and bolts of our learning quickly and on our own timeline. This is why I have encouraged so many of my clients to engage in self-directed learning using Leadership Advantage.
Content at Your Level and Pace
Name a topic and most likely you can find applicable content in Leadership Advantage, from building and leading teams to decisiveness, managing conflict, finance for non-financial managers, coaching, and delegation.
The tracks in Leadership Advantage are structured in tiered levels, allowing you to focus on where your need really lies. You can choose content based on whether you want a quick overview, a refresher, or a deeper dive. In addition, each track includes problem-solving simulations and assessments, enabling you to try to put your learning into practice.
Along with the learning modules available across forty-one tracks, Leadership Advantage includes access to an exclusive leadership channel with hundreds of videos from management experts and well-known thought leaders. Most videos are around two or three minutes and tend to focus on a provocative idea, innovative strategy, or compelling approach that might inspire you. You can use the search tool in Leadership Advantage to easily find videos that are relevant to your development interests.
Tools for Employee and Team Development
There are numerous ways to utilize Leadership Advantage when leading your team and fostering individual and team development. For instance, if you and your team have undergone significant changes and it’s time to shake up your organization’s approach to its new normal, the Strategic Thinking track provides downloadable application guides with ideas, content, engagement activities, and resources to support you going forward through the change and onto the other side.
Not only are the multiple tracks of Leadership Advantage valuable to you as you lead your team collectively, they are a priceless resource to you as you coach, counsel, and develop employees one to one. There are videos, self-assessments, learning modules, and tools to help your team members create action plans on their own; they can then meet with you to discuss their learnings and direct day-to-day applications. This is often how I use Leadership Advantage with many of my individual clients, making our time together more fruitful and focused. So can you.
Added Value
POD has created a variety of tools and aids to help you get the most from this online learning platform.
- We have organized the content into three areas: Business Acumen, Team Development, and Self-Development, with certificates available in each. Each certificate requires eight or more core tracks and three elective tracks, providing a clear learning path.
- Recent graduates of Level 1 of the Strategic Leadership Program may be interested in this Competency Map, which relates SLP competencies to learning tracks and videos in Leadership Advantage.
- We created this PDF to help you develop a learning habit over the course of three weeks by taking five minutes a day to watch specially selected videos and respond to reflection questions for each.
- This Quick Reference Guide for UW users shows you how to access and search for content, pursue and complete learning tracks, and receive certificate credit.
Leadership Advantage is designed to let you take control of your own and your team’s development—at your pace, on your terms. Lean more.
