Preparing for Development

Contents

Why Prepare for a Leadership Development Program?

Preparing Your Expectations

Personal Expectations

Organizational Expectations

Preparing Your Motivation

Enhancing Your Motivation

Preparing Your Workplace

Taking Care of Business

Taking Care of Colleagues

Set the Record Straight

Share Your Goals

Taking Care of Roadblocks

Assessing Roadblocks

Clearing Roadblocks

Turning Lessons into Leadership

Suggested Readings

Background

Key Point Summary

Lead Contributors

Ideas Into Action Guidebooks

Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook in this series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.

LEAD CONTRIBUTORS	Jennifer Martineau Ellie Johnson
CONTRIBUTORS	Henry Browning
GUIDEBOOK ADVISORY GROUP	Victoria A. Guthrie Cynthia D. McCauley Russ S. Moxley
DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS	Martin Wilcox
EDITOR	Peter Scisco
WRITER	Janet Fox
DESIGN AND LAYOUT	Joanne Ferguson
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS	Laura J. Gibson Chris Wilson, 29 & Company

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

CCL No. 409

ISBN-13: 978-1-882197-62-0

ISBN-10: 1-882197-62-3

Center for Creative Leadership

Post Office Box 26300

Greensboro, North Carolina 27438-6300

336-288-7210

www.ccl.org/publications

pfeiffer.com/go/cclguidebooks

The Ideas Into Action Guidebook Series

This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL^®) has generated in the course of more than thirty years of research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared—in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today’s leadership and organizational challenges.

The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. We think you will find the Ideas Into Action Guidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.

Executive Brief

Managers attend leadership development programs for any number of reasons. Sometimes an organization will nominate a specific manager for a program, or send all high-potential managers through a series of development programs. Some managers seek out development programs on their own as part of their personal career objectives. If you’re scheduled to participate in a leadership development program, or if you’re considering such a program, you can substantially increase the benefits to yourself and to your organization by preparing for the development experience. This guidebook will show you how to prepare yourself and how you can help prepare your colleagues and your work environment to make the most of a formal development program.