Award for a Leadership Development Program

 by: Chris Stowell

Why do organizations come together every year at the 2005 Excellence Fair held by the Professional Association for Computer Training?

It is because something worked well for an organization and valuable information needs to be shared. This year at the 2005 Excellence Fair it was Cargill, the international food provider (located in over 59 countries), that was recognized for their Transition into Leadership curriculum that helps employees transition into leadership roles.

So, what is it about Cargill’s leadership curriculum that has led to such great success? It began when Cargill recognized that great team members also make great leaders. But, the insights, skills, and vision needed to be an effective leader must be developed, practiced, and learned over time.

As such, the focus of Cargill’s leadership development program is to provide new and aspiring leaders with the skills required to confront the challenges and opportunities that a leadership role entails. In the program, aspiring and new leaders learn how to guide, empower, and assist the efforts of others towards greater success. These newly developed leaders are instructed on how to lead people, make a difference in their work, and fulfill leadership expectations.

So how is this leadership development program different from all of the others? This program provides new leaders with the key tools for leading effectively, while at the same time making the program specific to the development needs of each attendee. Most programs on the market do not focus on the transformation process aspiring leaders must go through to maximize their effectiveness.

The Transition into Leadership curriculum was designed to:

• Introduce the best ideas and practices in leadership today

• Identify the significant differences between leadership and management

• Determine the participants own leadership strengths and areas for improvement

• Develop and practice sound leadership skills and abilities

• Learn “best practices” through close affiliation with other Cargill leaders

• Communicate effectively and reinforce, mission, goals, and vision

• Take accountability for business results and team member development

• Embrace change and challenge the comfort zone of team members

Cargill’s leadership development program places great importance on their employees and know that they are the key part of a successful future. As a result they seek the best programs in order to create development opportunities for their employees and leaders around the world.

Cargill selected CMOE to partner with them in the development and implementation of the Transition into Leadership program. At the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness we have been helping Cargill to create, develop and implement their Transition into Leadership program and fulfill a variety of training needs.

The past 27 years CMOE has been instrumental in designing leadership development programs for multinational organizations. We help our clients improve the leaders of today and help create the leaders of tomorrow.