A Different Approach to Professional Development
Since 1992, THC has amplified the growth and development of leaders and professionals with their inside-out approach. By dissecting natural aptitudes from acquired skills, Leaders and Professionals take their performance to the next level with increased self- awareness, intention, and targeted growth.
Growth is at the core of all professional development. Most assessments, evaluations, and feedback direct information toward the person from the outside. What’s missing is information from the inside, information revealed by objectively measured aptitudes. The result is a deeper understanding of the “why” behind perceptions and an opportunity for Leaders and Professionals to target their growth.
When valuable information directed at the person from the outside is combined with professionals’ internal knowledge of themselves, Leaders and Professionals can:
Understand the roots of behavioral tendencies, those patterns of strengths and challenges
Participate more fully in their own growth and development
Manage their time, effort, and energy to accomplish their responsibilities and to adjust to changing demands
Pinpoint specific talents to self-leverage
Identify potential responsibilities to delegate
Appreciate and utilize the talents of others
HAB Leader Report
The HAB-Leader experience is for growing the formal responsibilities of leaders of organizations, divisions, departments or teams, and for individuals pursuing their own personal leadership. Extensively trained Highlands Certified Consultants use the HAB-Leader Report through their businesses and practices to engage with organizations to:
Coach individual leaders/aspiring leaders one-to-one
Provide professional development with targeted groups of leaders across the organization or in intact teams
Provide professional development for leaders through associations, colleges and universities, where participants do not work together on a day-to day basis
Customize professional development modules for aspiring leader programs
This must-have tool puts information in the hands of the individual to compliment and coordinate with information coming from the outside-in. The experience is facilitated by a Highlands Certified Consultant who:
Coordinates the administration of the HAB
Provides access to comprehensive reports
Debriefs the results either one-to-one or with a group
Can provide customized, optional add-ons depending on your objectives
Targeted Professional Development
Leaders/Professionals (inside organizations)
Benefits: Increased self-awareness, putting you in the best position to manage your most valuable resources – your time, effort, and energy.
Take your self-awareness to the next level. Descriptions like being a “people person” or a “micro-manager” provides a starting place; knowing what is driving it is another.
By examining each of your abilities separately and then putting them back together can provide you with strategies specific to you.
With refined self-awareness you can dial up the positives, reduce perceived negatives, and position yourself to take advantage of being your best self. There is more than one way to be a great leader!
Leaders/Professionals (self-directed development)
Benefit: Create your own professional development experience. Build upon a solid foundation of self-awareness.
Use HAB info to evaluate previous experiences, not make the same mistakes moving forward, and build your own customized professional development plan.
Add additional coaching to build a personal and career vision for your future.
Leadership Teams
Benefits: Learning what it is like to not be you. Leverage your talents and take advantage of those differences.
The HAB-Leader report provides extensive individualized information. Reviewing the results with your team provides invaluable information on a group’s overall strengths and blind spots.
Ability diversity among leadership team members provides huge benefits in accomplishing the work of the organization. And no single leader can do it all.
Learn specifically about how team members differ from one another and experience those differences in real time with your HCC there to facilitate.
Teams
Benefits: Accelerate the relationship building necessary to solve problems and communicate effectively.
The HAB-Leader report provides customized tips for working with others based on your natural abilities.
With a unified understanding of differences and a common language to describe them, create an environment that promotes productive discussions between team members to accomplish the work at hand.
Teams can get to the next level by appreciating and leveraging differences.
Aspiring Leaders (inside organizations)
Benefits: Understand your Leadership style, identify potential opportunities that maximize your strengths, and understand differences of those you may manage.
The HAB-Leader report provides customized information about you. The debrief provides information of what it is like not to be you.
Free yourself up to leverage your specific talents and take pressure off yourself by leveraging the talents of others. Recognize circumstances in which you can be the most effective.
Professional Development Programs (associations, career development within orgs)
Benefits: Amplify existing leadership and professional development programs by starting with a customized HAB-Leader experience
Any leadership or professional development program can be amplified when participants have greater self-awareness.
The HAB-Leader helps participants focus on developmental needs that may or may not be known or understood by others. The HAB-Leader experience does not replace existing programs; it can amplify growth and development.
Whether the experience is 1-1 or in a group environment, HCCs provide customized engagements or program modules to get the most out of longer professional development experiences.
Whole Person Leadership Development
Benefits: Taking stock and integrating abilities, skills, interests, personal style, family history, values, goals and stage of career for a directed future.
Leaders and Professionals are people, whole people. Beyond an intensive look at performance (the combination of abilities and skills), there is huge value in creating the space to integrate information that makes a Leader/Professional uniquely him or herself.
As Chester Bernard said, “we hire a person for their skill, but the whole person shows up to work”.
Offered 1-1, in groups, or as part of a professional development experience, this intensive approach demonstrates an appreciation for the person we call Leader.
Aspiring Leaders (self-directed development)
Benefits: Understand your Leadership style, identify potential opportunities that maximize your strengths, and understand differences of those you may manage.
The HAB-Leader report provides customized information about you. The debrief provides information of what it is like not to be you.
Facilitate navigating choices and opportunities with an organization. Learn to spot the circumstances within which you can thrive and identify skills to develop to extend yourself to take advantage of stretch opportunities.
Out Placement
Benefits: As part of a package, adding a deeper understanding and self-awareness to people in transition.
Set people up for success using the HAB-Leader experience (assessment, report, and personalized debrief).
Adding objectively measured abilities information can enhance confidence and can be integrated into company provided assistance with resume writing and interview preparation.
Natural Abilities
Define which roles are easy for you and which are more challenging
Can cause dissatisfaction if ignored
Remain relatively stable over time
Identify your “ideal” role and where to skill build to close gaps
Reveal your ideal leadership style
Know your compliments to maximize your output
Combinations of Natural Abilities
Individual abilities are the foundation; how they blend make you unique.
Our proprietary blends of abilities really take understanding of self and others to the next level. Understanding your ”home-base” style allows you to skill build into other styles as needed and to confidently delegate and take advantage of others’ strengths.
Personal Styles: Influences how we express ourselves and how others perceive us.
Combinations of Low, Mid and High range of Generalist/Specialist and Introvert/Extrovert.
Problem Solving Styles: Influences our natural approach to solving problems and making decisions.
Combinations of Low, Mid and High range of Classification and Concept Organization.
Spatial Reasoning Styles: Differences influence the types of solutions and recommendations.
Combinations of Low, Mid and High range of Spatial Theory and Spatial Visualization.
Group Programs
Groups can increase their effectiveness by each member understanding themselves first. To really accelerate efficiency and effectiveness of work output, group members can participate in a customized program with the HAB-Leader Report as the foundation.
The focus is on understanding, appreciating, and leveraging differences. Customized engagements may include part-day, full-day, and multi-day programs for groups based on your objectives.
Working through a Highlands Certified Consultant, events typically begin with an introductory meeting with the group. All events deliver each individual group member with the HAB assessment and a customized report. Individuals can agree to share their results and typically do so as part of a group program. Our strengths-based approach typically creates curiosity and a desire to share results. Group frequency information can make that process even easier.
Unlike some other assessments, individuals’ reports/results are not provided to managers or HR to be used to make decisions about individuals. The HAB is not a selection or performance evaluation tool because a person’s performance is a combination of abilities and skills and the assessment separates one from the other.
Group programs are designed and delivered by HCCs and may include Highlands and non-Highlands materials, as guided by your consultant.
Experiencing differences among group members in real time can create a climate of awareness and transparency. Providing a strengths-based language and eliminating common misunderstandings establishes the foundation for on-going open communication.
Article was originally published by The Highlands Company