Encore: What’s Possible When Leaders Own, Model & Drive Development

Catherine Allen, partner and co-founder of AO People Partners, recently joined Voice America’s Leadership Development News podcast hosted by Dr. Cathy Greenberg and Dr. Relly Nadler. As the co-author of “Conscious, Capable and Ready to Contribute,” Catherine shared insights about cultivating consciousness, enhancing core human skills, and embedding a culture of growth within organizations.  

At AO People Partners, we are passionate about inspiring and supporting the conscious practice of leadership and people development in the workplace. This interview helped illuminate some of the ways we help organizations and individuals achieve daily conscious development of their most valuable asset — their people. 

In this interview, Catherine talks about the vital role leaders play, and says leaders must own, model, and drive their organization’s development agenda. She outlines five key steps to embed a strong development-centered culture:

1. Understand and own the leader’s role in driving the development agenda and fostering a growth mindset throughout the organization.  
2. Model their own developmental journey. Actions speak louder than words; no amount of communication around development will make up for leaders who don’t show they value it. 
3.  Align business strategy with people development initiatives. That clear line of sight is what will embed development into the growth engine of any organization.   
4.  Define clear cultural principles around development; more than words, the value of development has to become the shared expectations that guide everyone. 
5.  Embed development into the full employee lifecycle, rather than isolating it to certain roles, times of year, or levels of success. It has to be integrated into hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and promotion processes. 

The key is making growth and learning an explicit, understood priority by creating a common language and making development part of the daily work rhythm. The key to “baking it in” to daily work is to start with the why: that an environment conducive to development also fosters productivity and business success.  

While many leaders would agree with all of the above, lack of clarity around the importance of continuous development is often the biggest obstacle. That’s why it’s crucial for leaders to develop a common language around and clear alignment for how the skills needed (critical thinking, active listening, empathy, emotional intelligence) drive business results. Leaders who personally embody a growth mindset and involve employees in co-creating developmental programs can establish that vital shared understanding. 

Thanks to everyone who tuned into the podcast last month. For those of you who missed it, listen to the podcast episode in full here (or click on video above).