Teamership: Three things leadership development needs

Leadership development can apply Hope Theory to design and deliver initiatives that make leadership purposeful, practical and possible for leaders. Photo by

Adrià Crehuet Cano on Unsplash.

Hope Theory (developed by Charles Snyder and others in 1991) frames hope as the perceived ability to produce pathways to achieve desired goals and to motivate oneself to use those pathways.

That sounds a bit academic, but as Kurt Lewin taught us 80 years ago, there’s nothing as practical as a good theory. Here’s how to apply Hope Theory to leadership development.

 Here’s what leaders are feeling:

•  Goals - Leaders aren’t clear on what great leadership looks like for them.

• Pathways - Generic advice about leadership is overwhelming and insufficient without context.

• Agency - Leaders are overwhelmed. They don’t believe they have the capacity, connections, permission or power to lead in new ways.

 Here’s what leadership development needs to provide:

• Goals - Personally meaningful goals that align with their context

• Pathways – Possibilities, not prescriptions for putting leadership into practice

• Agency – A sense that progress is possible – and setbacks are likely

Most leadership development is heavy on pathways.

We don’t usually refer to them as pathways, but the tools, techniques, frameworks and strategies are all ways of telling our leaders how they can improve their leadership.

The pathways are not the problem. They are a part of the solution.

The problem is that pathways alone are insufficient.

If we want leaders to lead, we need leaders that want to lead.

If we want leaders to author their development, we need to give them the whiteboard marker more often. Literally and metaphorically.

Here’s what leadership development with Hope Theory integrated looks like:

Goals: Make it Personally Meaningful

Allow opportunities for:

• Leaders to define what great leadership means to them.

• Exploring personal values, experiences and perspectives.

• Connecting leadership with team and organisational performance.

This helps shift the narrative of leadership from compliance to contribution.

Pathways: Make It Practical

Present leaders with:

• A range of evidence-based frameworks, not just prescriptive and proprietary material.

• Examples of different approaches to leadership.

• Opportunities to hear from peers and colleagues’ experiences.

This helps leaders get clearer on a selection of tools and approaches that could form part of their leadership.

Agency: Make it feel Possible

Foster a sense that leaders:

• Are the authors of their own leadership development and performance.

• Have already demonstrated resilience, leadership and growth throughout their life and career.

• Can expect to learn from their mistakes – rather than expect perfection and avoid mistakes.

This helps leaders to engage in experimentation and build belief that they can develop as a leader.

If there are three things that our leadership development needs to provide leaders, they are meaningful goals, pathways to achieving those goals and a sense of agency that they are able to pursue those goals through those pathways.

Here are a few things to consider this week. Are you optimising for hope when developing leaders by having:

1. Goals - Personally meaningful goals that align with the context of each leader?

2. Pathways – Possibilities, not prescriptions for putting leadership into practice?

3. Agency – A sense that progress is possible – and setbacks are likely for leaders?