Corporations cite changes in ecosystemic conditions and generational mindset as major reasons for corporate non-performance. They invest billions, estimated @ around 500B, in training to improve operational efficiencies through leadership behavioral mindset shifts, addressing these changes. Change management techniques, Emotional intelligence, and Engagement have been favorite themes, and in more recent times, Psychological safety, Inclusivity, etc. Despite these well-meaning efforts, workplace discontent has increased. No significant performance improvement is evidenced. The primary reason is that these techniques need to be experientially learnt and anchored in application, tracked and measured over a neuroplastic range of 6-months. Vertical training methodology for a few days is ineffective. As a result, most of these efforts fail the test of return on investment. 70% of these training methods do not produce lasting outcomes. The reason given by HR professionals is that behavioral changes cannot be measured in SMART terms. This is an incorrect assumption. Unless we measure through financial metrics, what comes into play is the next shiny object, backed by spurious logic and often unsubstantiated evidence. Perhaps CFOs should guide CHROs to decide on leadership development investments. CEOs talk eloquently about the excellent teams they have personally groomed and transformed. However, internal executive committee meetings of their CXOs are a motley collection of leaders not working together. Agendas ahead of time, presentations that everyone listens to, genuinely curious developmental questions, openness in communication, genuine emotional bonding with each other, and such key characteristics that are mandatory for a high-performance team are rarely seen in leadership team meetings. In several companies, when offered to coach leaders as a team, the leaders refuse. How can leaders who object to being coached together work and perform together? The thousand-pound invisible gorilla in the room is the samurai silo mentality of groups of leaders, who call themselves a team, but do not work collaboratively as an emotionally bonded entity. Quite often, this anomalous culture is created by the organization, not recognising teamwork as a leadership criterion, leading to unhealthy internal competition instead of seamless collaboration that ought to be the norm. Leaders in such situations talk at and against each other, and not to each other. Their effort is to speak loudly and aggressively, and not listen quietly and humbly. Coacharya's SPEED model offers an enterprise solution to build emotionally bonded teams, working collaboratively and collectively to envision goals and execute actions aligned to organizational vision, in a measurable SMART fashion. SPEED is built around Organization Development (OD) concepts, using effective communication and collaboration tools in a systemic and spiritually intelligent approach to create both self and collective awareness. This model has been deployed successfully in over a dozen large organizations, with measurable results.
Ram S. Ramanathan (Fri,) studied this question.