Leadership Development is a Never-Ending Process

Leadership Development is a Never-Ending Process
Being a leader in any given organization is an important prospect that should be handled with utmost care. This is because leaders are regarded as role models by their followers; as such, it is imperative to always set a proper precedent. Leadership is a continuous process, and since these are dynamic times, leaders need to develop in order to keep pace with the changing times. Despite many challenges, leaders must strive to make a positive imprint on their followers. They must be flexible, proactive, strategic, and competent (SHRM, n.d.). There are several concepts that significantly contribute to the attainment of leadership development. Some of these concepts include coaching, mentoring, and emotional intelligence development.
Leaders need to undergo thorough coaching from time to time to become more effective in their leadership roles. Coaching is usually done in conjunction with assessment tools (SHRM, n.d.). It improves the performance of leaders as they can learn new and dynamic leadership skills (Cox et al., 2014). Ideally, it is done by professionals with immense and critical background knowledge in specific areas. It can either be internal or external; internal coaching is conducted by individuals within an organization. This approach may not have optimum results because the coach may be restrained by authority structures (Cox et al., 2014). External coaching is conducted by individuals from outside an organization and is more effective because the coach acts independently. To achieve excellent leadership development among leaders, it is prudent to engage an external professional coach (Cox et al., 2014). There are different types of coaching, like cognitive behavioral coaching, which aims at enhancing the leaders' thinking capacity. The solution-focused approach equips leaders with relevant knowledge to solve problems in their organizations.
The other leadership development concept commonly used is mentoring. Leadership mentorship is usually a partnership between individuals working in the same organization. It is a situation where a more experienced leader is assigned the duty of grooming, advising, and monitoring an existing leader or a future one (SHRM, n.d.). Ideally, new leaders need help as they transition from being ordinary employees to leaders. In a word, it enhances the competence of the mentees (Mikkonen et al., 2022). This is so because it provides leaders with the opportunity to learn and grow more because they easily get the necessary support. The development of the mentees can be meticulously and closely monitored. However, it might not always have the desired positive results. This is partly because the mentor might feel that the mentee might pose a threat to his position (Mikkonen et al., 2022). Such a feeling may adversely affect the mentor's commitment.
Emotional intelligence development is another concept in leadership development. To make a good leader, it is critical to understand one's emotions and what impact they have on the followers. It is also important for a leader to have the capacity to learn and evaluate other people's emotions (SHRM, n.d.). Leaders must behave in a manner that will improve positive employee behaviors because they are...