- Along with the development of the management training movement and the emergence of human relations as a business necessity, leadership training programs began to appear on the corporate scene in the 1970s. Until that time, leadership was a more haphazard phenomenon based on education, wealth and survival of the best or the boldest. In the early days of management development, companies were often autocratic. A successful leader had a ruthless drive to achieve and often made it to the top by stepping on the fingers of his predecessors.
- As the early versions of today's more participative management training programs took root, the concept of business leadership training was born. One of the critical elements to any leadership training initiative became the identification and nurturing of characteristics most desirable in a successful company or corporate leader.
- A set of general personality characteristics are used by corporations to delineate the leadership candidates to select for specialized training, mentoring and succession planning models. Some of these traits, which vary by corporate type and leadership assignment, include high intelligence, good people skills, willingness to take calculated risks, open mindedness, tenacity and self-motivation. A strong drive to succeed despite facing obstacles is another trait desired by most leadership programs.
- Fast track programs including an executive MBA program, individualized management training classes based on needs assessment and a mentoring component typify the standard leadership development model for up-and-comers. Where a company wishes to develop existing managers for leadership, hiring an executive coach to work with the individuals on a long-term basis makes sense and is less costly than the grassroots version. However, the results may be more limited because many existing managers turned leaders have bad habits in one area or another that will need to be "coached clean."
- The importance of identifying leadership candidates early in their careers is critical to the potential success of any leadership program. Equally important is to give all employees the opportunities to step forward and be considered for the fast track. Quantitatively measuring the progress of the leadership team will increase the results in finding the highest level performers.
- Modern leadership training programs continue to be streamlined and improved. The same basic models have been repackaged and reintroduced under scores of names and trademarks.
