Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Four Reasons to Champion Leadership Development
This article in Stanford Social Innovation Review discusses findings from a recent evaluation of an American Express program to develop leadership skills in the nonprofit sector.
Timothy J. McClimon, president of the American Express Foundation and vice president of corporate social responsibility at the American Express Company, writes that: "Both the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that the Leadership Academy had a profound impact on graduates, and that participants have sustained important leadership behaviors." They include:
- Working more effectively and empathetically with others.
- Sustained increase in self-awareness, and understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses.
- Inspiration to continue growing and developing personal leadership.
- Being more decisive, strategic, and effective at delegation, as well as more confident about and adaptive to managing organizational change.
McClimon adds that American Express is planning to "launch a new Leadership Academy portal to share best practices this year, and we have plans to enhance our alumni network. Our goal is to reach more individuals and, ultimately, help their organizations achieve greater societal impact."...