A Love Letter to Leadership Development
By Jessica Bynoe, Executive Director
At Variety New York we have been talking a lot about personal leadership development lately. In January we ran a value-added session to discuss personal leadership frameworks. Participants learned about Emotional Intelligence and how those competencies or lack thereof can contribute to resonant or dissonant leadership styles. Variety has also offered staff of grantee organizations the opportunity to undergo a 360 degree evaluation by their peers to better understand their leadership strengths and gaps.
I have had the opportunity to partake in and to teach many workshops on leadership development over the years and, I believe, it is one of the most valuable and often underrated parts of supporting organizational success. An organization is only as strong as its least active leader. Every member of a team or organization has unique skills and abilities to contribute to the leadership of the organization. It is only by unlocking and supporting each person’s individual leadership that the total potential of an organization can be unlocked and realized.
Leadership development takes time. It takes patience. It takes personal investment. And, it takes a lot of courage. It can be hard for some organizational leaders to share the spotlight with other leaders in their organization. Additional, unfocused leadership development can create a scenario with too many cooks in the kitchen. However, by allowing everyone space, time and encouragement to grow and lead within the parameters of the organization’s vision, an organization can experience true success, innovation and loyalty within its team.
Grant makers can help facilitate leadership development with grantees by creating spaces and conversations for all individuals at an organization to express their strengths, desire for growth and areas needing improvement. These conversations along with some concrete tools and processes to allow for group and personal learning plans can help organizations identify and capitalize on all the leadership strengths available.
Personally, I feel fortunate to have been a product of focused leadership development opportunities at NYU Wagner and through the Everett Public Service Internship. These programs coupled with mentors who were not afraid to support that development helped me understand the symbiotic relationship between personal leadership and organizational success. Today, I feel proud to be at an organization that equally embraces this value and offers guidance to its grantees to enhance it within their organizational cultures.