Preparing for Development: Making the Most of Formal Leadership Programs

If you are scheduled to participate in a leadership development program, or if you're considering such a program, you can substantially increase the benefits to yourself and to your organization by preparing for the development experience. This guidebook will show you how to prepare yourself and how you can help prepare your colleagues and your work environment to make the most of a formal development program.

This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has generated, since its inception in 1970, through its research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared-in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today's leadership and organizational challenges.
The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL's mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide.

Jennifer Martineau is a research scientist at CCL and works with staff, clients, and external evaluators to create new evaluation methods for CCL programs. She also manages client-specific evaluation studies that enable CCL and its clients to learn about the impact of CCL interventions on participants and their organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from Pennsylvania State University.

Ellie Johnson is custom program manager at CCL's Greensboro campus. In this role she manages all customized development processes and programs that originate at that site. She also serves on the faculty of several of CCL's open enrollment programs, including The Women 's Leadership Program, Leadership and Teamwork, and Foundations of Leadership. She holds an M.A. in organizational communication from Wake Forest University.