Most approaches to building strong leadership in organizations are based on outmoded and incorrect assumptions about leadership development. The author of the Toolbox approach verified a new set of development principles that more effectively reflected leadership behaviors for today's organizations.

Focus on the needs of the organization, not the individual
When leaders learn that their development is directly tied to organization performance goals they will understand that developing leadership skills is not optional. When people perceive a direct relationship between learning and positively effecting the issues immediately before them, they will more likely want to learn and apply their new skills. Leadership development can directly be connected to changes in organization performance.

Backload the budget
Most development programs, for example the competency method, require significant amounts of time and ample financial resources to complete a front end design and assessment process. Given a limited budget and tight timeframes, the emphasis should be placed on creating an environment where leaders are expected to use their new learning for making significant improvements in business performance.

Leader vs. leadership
The leader is an effective individual. Leadership, on the other hand is an undertaking, to which many contribute. The output of leadership is a collective action that will sustain your organization over the long term. Your organization's agility is facilitated when managers function as effective leaders who work together to accomplish the leadership work.

Art vs. science
Leadership is an art based on idiosyncratic individual capabilities. And leadership can be taught as a science. Successful managers have learned how to do the leadership work. The science of leadership provides access to the universal and substantial foundation that is required to accomplish leadership behaviors. Leadership development must focus on developing foundational behaviors.

Leadership as a definable, measurable process
Leadership is a process that can be taught, with definable steps that will lead to predictable, measurable outcomes. Rather than evaluate the skills of individual leaders, your organization should measure the results of the leadership team. To measure the leadership effectiveness, your organization must address the following questions:

• Does your organization have a viable plan that will enable it to thrive?
• Do the critical stakeholders embrace the plan?
• Are leaders working as a collaborative team to achieve the plan?

• Do leaders have the skills required to achieve the shared vision?
• Has your organization developed the necessary skilled behaviors that lead to success?
• Do all employees have the skills required to accomplish leadership work?

• Has your organization built a culture capable of accepting and achieving the new plan?
• Are the right people, financial, and technical resources in place to achieve the new direction?
• Is your organization achieving expected results?

The approach to developing individual leaders is not the same as the approach to developing organizational leadership. Building leaders one at a time is slow, inefficient, and often ineffective. Developing organization-wide leadership by focusing on foundational leadership behaviors significantly improves business performance in less time.

Leaders can no longer rely on past experience or intuition. They must have adequate tools and methods to address the complexity and chaos they face. Organizational leaders must be developed as a team with a shared vision and a collaborative focus on innovation.

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