Leading a science and technology-based organization requires leadership that bridges the gap between science, technology and business. However, leadership experts often fail to adapt their training to meet the needs of top scientists and engineers. Learning and development professionals must prepare scientists, engineers and IT experts to become effective leaders through customized leadership training. In this session, learn how to successfully recruit your technical experts into leadership training programs and adapt leadership training to reach technical experts more effectively. 

1. TRAINING TECHNICAL
EXPERTS TO BE
LEADERS
TICE CONFERENCE
JUNE, 2019

2. Technical Leadership Training is a
major untapped L&D opportunity
Why is leadership development for technical
leaders important?
What should they learn?
Why is it different from conventional
leadership training?
How should it be taught?
How can you measure its effectiveness?
Presentation Overview

3. Leadership Development is a Critical
Success Factor in Business
Top Ten Challenges of C-Level Executives
64%
60%
48%
28%
25%
24%
22%
21%
20%
18%
Slowing economic growth in emerging markets
Developing “Next Gen” leaders
Global political uncertainty
Labor relations
Cyber-security
Global recession
Failure to attract/retain top talent
Income inequality/disparity
New competitors globally
Outdated/Insufficient national infrastructure

4. Leadership Development is a Critical
Success Factor in Business
Technical Leadership Development is the Most Difficult
12%of Tech companies have a strong future leadership supply
61%Success rate in filling technology leadership
positions internally
23%of technology companies rate their leadership quality as high
20%Two of every five technology leadership assignments are considered
failures – a rate that is 20% higher than that of other industries
33%of technology leaders have a development plan
*Global Leadership forecast 2018

5. Competitive pressure to
innovate and shake up
established markets is too
powerful for companies and
the people who lead them to
ignore.*
Technical Leadership Training
*Global Leadership forecast 2018

6. Technical Leadership Training
Why is Leadership Development for
technical managers so important?
The two major functions of
business are innovation
and marketing.”
—Peter Drucker
“
The two main functions of
L&D are to train your
commercial team to sell
and your technical team
to innovate.

7. Technical Leadership Training
What should your technical
managers learn?
Strategic Leadership
How to generate and sell
their ideas
Performance Leadership
How to implement their ideas
through cross functional projects
Servant Leadership
How to motivate and support
their staff responsible for
leading projects

8. Technical Leadership Training
Why is technical leadership
training different?
• The science of management is
not easily translated into the
management of science
• The people are different
• The culture is different
• The metrics are different
• Technical leaders must
bridge the gap between
science and business

9. Technical Leadership Training
How should it be taught?
• Leadership mindset – 80%
• Leadership skills – 20%
• Turn “on your own” learning into “on the job learning”
• Multiple modalities
• Culture of culture of continuous learning

10. Technical Leadership Training
Develop a mindset of Life Long Learning
Better than yesterday,
not as good as tomorrow

11. Technical Leadership Training
There is a mismatch between leadership development learning and
what high-potential leaders desire
Rankings of Leadership Development Types
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Formal workshops, training
courses, seminars
Coaching from current manager
Short-term developmental assignments
Books/Articles
Coaching from peers
Long-term developmental assignments
Microlearning
Coaching from external mentors
Coaching from employees
Game-based learning
PROVIDED BY ORGANIZATIONS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Formal workshops, training
courses, seminars
Coaching from current manager
Short-term developmental assignments
Books/Articles
Coaching from peers
Long-term developmental assignments
Microlearning
Coaching from external mentors
Coaching from employees
Game-based learning
DESIRED BY HIGH-POTENTIAL
LEADERS

12. Technical Leadership Training
How can you measure the
effectiveness of a technology
leadership program?
• Increase in the idea pipeline
• Increase in the 3D
leadership index
• Number and % of internal
candidates promoted
• Increase in collaboration
between R&D and
commercial teams

13. Technical Leadership Training
How Can Training and Development Help
• Assess your organization’s R&D leadership strategy
and succession plan
• Conduct a technical leadership survey
• Create/improve your organization’s R&D leadership
development program
• Identify competent technical training leaders (internally
and externally)

14. Technical Leadership Training
Your organization’s next big
breakthrough is currently in the mind of
one of your technical experts!

15. Technical Leadership Training
tony.Graffeo@graffeoandassociates.com
www.graffeoandassociates.com
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