People Development: Learning from a Good Professor

Dear Managers and Leaders!

I believe I already mentioned to you that my daughter plays the violin. Last weekend, she had her end-of-session concert. The concert was a real success with very young performers trying their best to play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to the older violinists playing the Brandenburg Concerto no 2.

Watching the concert, I started to think about the leadership required to be a violin professor. In particular, I started to look at my daughter’s violin professor’s ability to develop people. I felt like she could teach a lot about people development to the leaders of the world! Here are the lessons that came to my mind as I watched the show:

• Know the people on the team: where they are, where they can be, and what they can accomplish.
• Define attainable but stretched goals for everyone on the team.
• Define a framework for the development experience. The students know what is coming up for them, the next steps, and the longer term goals – in this context, the framework is defined by the Suzuki method of learning how to play the violin.
• Pushed the people hard all year so that they develop to their full actual capacity. Never accept to slow down the pace or lower the bar if you are convinced that the student is able to achieve what you ask.
• Pair experienced achievers with younger staff for optimal development. At the concert, younger people presented with really experienced ones. This gave them pride and pushed them further, faster in their development.
• Be engaged and committed. The success of your people is also your success.
• Love your people! Establish a close relationship with them and motivate them to attain new heights through the love you give them.
• Celebrate success! Applauds from the audience and your tender look and smile will do magic to motivate your people in the years to come!

To get optimal performance from his team, a leader must always do everything possible to develop his people. People development should be one of the most important activities of a leader. This is why I wanted to share these lessons with you!

What about you dear leader? Are you developing your people? Are you mentoring them, pushing them further by giving them stretched assignments? Are you pairing old timers and young performers to push them even further? Let me know about your experience!

Until next time,

Remi Cote

PS: If you find these postings interesting and would like to learn more about what I can do for you, then please visit www.innovachron.com or contact me directly at remi@innovachron.com.