The keys to ​​leadership training: How to train leaders who motivate and inspire 

Good leaders have the ability to inspire, motivate and guide their teams to success. But these are not their only qualities – they also know how to create a clear vision, communicate effectively and make informed decisions.

However, the eternal question over leadership in the business field is this: ‘is a good leader born or made?’ While it’s true that some people may have a natural flair for leadership, even they will need to train themselves continually – gaining experience, honing their skills, and learning how to adapt to change.

For this reason, leadership training is an essential investment for any company, regardless of its size or specialization. Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about training leaders.

What is leadership training and what does it consist of?

Leadership training involves developing the skills, knowledge and competencies of people in leadership roles. It can also be applied to those who are in the process of becoming leaders. This type of training encompasses a wide range of skills, from effective communication and decision-making, all the way through to good team management and conflict resolution.

The key to success: The importance of effective leadership training programs

There are a whole host of reasons why leadership training is so beneficial – and indeed necessary – for companies. Below, we take a look at some of its most important advantages:

• Improves organizational culture: A workforce with trained and committed leaders is more likely to produce a positive, productive and collaborative organizational culture.
• Increases employee retention: According to Gartner, employees who feel valued and have capable, effective leaders are 3.2 times more likely to stay with their organization.
• Reinforces adaptability and resilience: Leaders who have benefited from good skills training are better equipped to handle change and sudden crises. This is particularly important, as it allows them to respond effectively to any situation, and lead more confidently.
• Promote the use of technology: Ever heard of leaders 2.0? These are the leaders who, thanks to an ongoing process of training and talent development, have fully adapted to digital transformation. They are likely to encourage the use of technology to enhance talent management, and many other aspects of their company.
• Enhances company results: By focusing on the development of their leaders, organizations can sharpen their ability to innovate, adapt to change and achieve their strategic objectives.

6 essential skills to develop effective leaders

As we’ve seen, leadership training is mostly about developing practical skills that enable leaders to perform effectively in the real world. These skills include:

1. Effective communication

The ability to communicate clearly and confidently is essential for any leader. They need to be able to express their vision and ideas in a compelling way, as well as actively listen to and understand the needs and concerns of team members.

2. Emotional intelligence

This includes the ability to recognize, understand and manage one’s own emotions in addition to those of others. Leaders with high emotional intelligence know how to remain calm under pressure, manage conflict effectively, and foster healthy, productive working relationships.

3. Team management

The ability to lead and manage a team is key to the success of a capable leader. Additionally, they must also be able to nurture a positive work environment, recognize achievements, and offer clear opportunities for growth.

4. Troubleshooting

Leaders must be adept in identifying and solving problems within the business environment. What does this entail? The ability to analyze complex situations, spot potential obstacles, and develop creative solutions that drive organizational success.

5. Strategic vision

Good leadership training also involves the development of a strategic vision. This means thinking in the long term, identifying emerging trends and opportunities, and aligning team efforts with wider organizational objectives.

6. Empathy and inclusive leadership skills

Being an inclusive leader allows you to create synergies between diverse teams to leverage their full potential. Only if people feel valued and included will they dare to give their opinion, to put their uniqueness at the service of the team and to explore new ways of doing things.

To promote inclusion in your company’s leadership style, in addition to knowing, valuing and accepting what is different, it is necessary to develop a series of skills and behaviors that help all your collaborators to adapt to diversity.

Build relationships with authenticity and courage

Inclusion requires leaders who dare to be unique and who are able to build a network of relationships with authenticity and courage. Show your own uniqueness and discover that of your team, allowing each employee to express themselves with freedom and empathy. To achieve this, always show your closeness and availability to give them what they need at all times.

Create a safe and inclusive environment

Creating a safe and inclusive environment in which your team feels involved and free of judgment will help develop the strengths of your employees. But how do you achieve this? Always offer your collaboration, value each person’s efforts and let them know it. Question yourself to be aware of your own biases and how they affect others. Communicate in terms of benefits and show what teamwork brings to each person.

Make communication more flexible

An inclusive leader must help others to be more flexible in their communication with the team, raising everyone’s awareness and creating a culture of positive feedback that helps to improve. To do this, promote communication in a conscious and warm way, empathizing with each of the professionals and valuing their thoughts and emotions. It also adapts the content and form of messages according to the existing diversity in the team, for example by using Belbin’s model.

Stimulates positive conflict to innovate

Understand ideas as a possibility for change, and not as an accumulation of opinions that can generate conflict. On the contrary, explore it constructively as a source of creativity and innovation.

To stimulate positive conflict, ensure good conflict. Some keys: Anticipate it and manage it quickly before it can escalate into a major problem. Celebrate the success of the conflict so that team members learn to trust the process. You can also create spaces for dialogue where the team is jointly exposed to new information or apply methodologies and techniques such as brainstorming or design thinking.

Promotes autonomy and responsibility

Learn to let go of control of the situation. Let the team achieve its goals with autonomy and take responsibility for achieving the desired results. To do this, discuss with your collaborators the vision and objectives to be achieved. Get to know each person and adapt your leadership to their profile. Ask and find out how they prefer to perform their tasks and set intermediate goals that allow self-management. Finally, evaluate and give constant feedback until you can delegate with total autonomy.

By implementing these guidelines you will achieve companies with leaders capable of creating and promoting a safe environment in which a very diverse team can achieve extraordinary results.

How to take the next step? Successful leadership training initiatives

Now that you understand the benefits of leadership training, and know which skills to focus on, it’s time to take action. Below, we offer a series of initiatives you can implement:

Mentoring and coaching programs

One of the most effective initiatives in leadership training is the integration of mentoring and coaching programs. These programs couple experienced leaders with their emerging counterparts, to provide personalized guidance, support, and feedback to up-and-coming leaders. Mentors share their knowledge, experience and insights with mentees, helping them to develop solid leadership skills, set career goals and overcome professional challenges.

This type of training is ideal for… emerging leaders, as it gives them the support they need to navigate the early challenges of their careers, set clear goals for themselves, and reach their full potential.

Experiential and social learning

Experiential and social learning programs are a powerful tool to develop leaders’ skills and knowledge. Offering carefully designed experiences allows leaders to learn through practice, reflection, and interaction with others. So, what experiences should you feature in this type of program? Some of the most effective activities include simulations, role plays, and case studies.

This type of training is ideal for… mid-level leaders, who have the responsibility of overseeing teams as well as communicating routinely with senior management.

Online learning platforms

These days, the saying ‘time is money’ proves true, making online training tools increasingly popular. These platforms allow leaders to access educational content from any location and at any time, adapting training to their busy schedules and learning preferences.

For example, with isEazy Skills, you can enhance the skills of your team leaders through agile, interactive and accessible soft skills courses that captivate users from the first moment.

This type of training is ideal for… all types of leaders! Its practical approach lets students acquire habits and behaviors that focus on their specific responsibilities. In this way, training always responds to each leader’s individual needs, ensuring that what they learn can be directly applied to their work environment.

Want to take a look at one of our most popular courses for leaders? Just hit play:

How to measure the impact of leadership training programs

Measuring the impact of leadership training programs is essential if you want to evaluate their effectiveness, as well as determine whether they are meeting organizational objectives and satisfying leaders’ development needs.

In order to achieve this, it’s essential to establish clear and measurable training objectives from the beginning. In addition, follow-up evaluations must be consistently conducted, allowing you to observe the impact of training on the development of leadership skills.

Another important step is to evaluate how your program is affecting key business outcomes, such as employee productivity and retention. According to Harvard Business, “leadership development initiatives are most effective when they focus on performance results that support a key business priority, such as increasing revenue.”

The PreZero success story: online training for managers

PreZero, one of the foremost companies in the environmental sector, was faced with the challenge of converting its whole base of internal knowledge into a set of attractive and quality e-learning courses. The objective was to train its team of managers in all the skills and technical knowledge required to form a key part of the business.

Thanks to isEazy, PreZero has successfully launched a hybrid content creation model, training over 129 managers in online mode. What’s more, it’s done this in record time, generating more than 30 pieces of e-learning content during a period of 9 months. Discover more about this success story.

CASE STUDY

We helped PreZero improve its training strategy with attractive and quality courses.

See case study

Shaping the leaders of tomorrow through comprehensive training

So, is a good leader born or made? The reality is that leadership is neither one nor the other; it is not a static skill. It requires openness to new ideas, a positive attitude and the ability to face new challenges. For these reasons, companies must encourage continuous learning so that their employees can reach their full potential as leaders.

Request a demo of isEazy Skills today, and start enjoying the most complete catalog of courses on the market, either to develop your leadership training or cover any other training need.