Leadership development training plan – wish list or essential?

Having a leadership development training plan is essential to focus our minds and help us set realistic goals ethically. It is essential we work in a corporate environment which allows us to align our values and ethics with those of our organisation. Many people are conflicted when it comes to balancing their personal values whilst achieving their corporate objectives. These organisations have an undercurrent which isn’t easily seen where executives are put under pressure to achieve corporate objectives at any cost.

Could focused leadership development training have helped organisations to avoid governance failures?

If we think back to corporate governance scandals in Wells Fargo, Siemens and Toshiba the tone from the top put pressure on employees to commit fraud, act unethically or collude to mis-state financial results. Today, leaders are placed under a lot of stress and pressures, which affects their ability to achieve harmony between mind, body, and soul. However, leading with mind, body, and soul is one of the key qualities that makes a visionary and inspirational leader, one who inspires their team or followers to go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve a common vision. If you are not born with this quality, then you can build it through leadership courses and leadership development programs.

What’s going on in our minds and bodies impacts the way we act, and a new piece of scientific research is published every week that supports such claims. Unfortunately, most leaders, which includes the corporate leadership in Dubai and those in board advisory roles, haven’t come to terms with the implications of all this. Instead, many choose to stick with what they know and trust. Do old ways open new doors? Can corporate leaders get their mind, body and soul aligned? During this holy month of Ramadan we should spend some time to reflect on what drives us and our core values.

Leadership training should help executives align their Mind, Body and Soul

Albert Einstein believed that the purpose of ‘time’ was to make sure that everything didn’t happen at once. While you are free to disagree with Einstein, his statement should serve as a good reminder that everything must not occur at once, but gradually and in moderation. Director training, leadership courses, and leadership development programs put great emphasis on this.

While no leader, including the board advisory, can argue that time is precious, getting ahead of it can get overwhelming. In such times, it is critical for attaining a balance between mind, body, and soul. This can help any leader, including you, to re-energize yourself and avoid burning out. If this balance does not come naturally to you, then you can learn how to attain it through director training, leadership courses, or leadership development programs.

In these leadership development training plans and programs, emphasis will be on the three ways that research proves can help all leaders, including board advisory, to stay healthy in mind, body, and spirit and ensure the same for their teams:

1. Understanding the Basics of Treating the Human Body

As a leader, you need to understand and practice some of the proven basics of treating your own body. You can positively impact performance at work by advocating for regular exercise, good hydration, healthy nutrition, sufficient sleep, and deep breathing to oxygenate the brain. Avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol and/or caffeine helps too. We need to look after our physical well being to perform optimally.

Additionally, you must create a work environment that encourages people to take time out to do a few stretches, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. This can be incredibly useful in improving productivity at work provided your team members don’t overdo the aforementioned- things.

2. Recognising All ‘Three’ Brains

According to research, we have three full functioning neural networks. These three neural networks reside in the head, heart, and belly. This means that contrary to what we had been originally told, we have not one, but three, independent neural centers to serve us. All of them are capable of learning and remembering and can affect our sensations and actions.

Therefore, taking care of all ‘three’ brains is needed to perform well. As a leader, you need to be aware of the three neural networks residing in the head, heart, and belly and provide the appropriate support to keep them thriving. Could a leadership development training plan help leaders discuss and share experiences?

In an organisation and team environment, this would mean making sense of the things around you, building a climate a trust and engagement, and emphasizing on the importance of ‘reflection’ time. This can be critical in a high-pressure setting. Remember, achieving a healthy alignment between the head, the heart, and the belly is one of the keys for making both the body and spirit thrive. Think when you are stressed and how it impacts your body, some people get headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, sweating or increased heart rate. Stress and moral dilemma can have a considerable adverse impact on our bodies and mental well being.

3. Understanding How the Soul Works

The ‘vehicle’ for the spirit, our soul expresses our moral values through our beliefs, actions, words, intuition, and conscience. Put simply, our core values come from our soul. Therefore, until the time our soul is suppressed, we can never experience ‘true’ happiness. On the other hand, inner bliss and profound peace are attained when the mind nourishes the soul. The result is feeling happy and motivated both inside and outside.

At Governance Gurus, we provide effective leadership development training plans and leadership training courses to help directors, senior executives and future leaders leverage the power of mind, body, and soul to build healthy work environments and enable successful organisations.