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Leadership development matters. Organisations spend more than €60 billion globally on leadership development programmes every year. And with public scrutiny towards C-level executives higher than ever, effective leadership stands as the cornerstone of long-term business success. 

Leadership skills not only drive the decision-making process, but also shape the trajectory of an organisation. Today’s fresh-faced team members are tomorrow’s leaders, so developing the right skills and capabilities to become a positive leader is vital to long-term organisational success. 

Explore our guide to the dynamic world of effective leadership development, and learn about what makes leadership training so important for individuals and teams. 

 

Benefits of leadership development for individuals

On an individual level, investing in leadership development can have a significant impact on your career trajectory, ability to manage situations, and even on your overall wellbeing. Embarking on a journey of leadership development offers many different, and often surprising benefits. Here are four key benefits that demonstrate the transformative power of investing in your leadership capabilities:

1. Improve your strategic decision-making

Leadership development programmes equip you with tools and resources you can draw upon to make faster, more effective decisions with greater confidence. Being able to analyse complex situations, understand stakeholders involved, evaluate options and make informed choices all lie at the heart of leadership, no matter in what stage of your career you’re in.

2. Learn effective communication

Ask any senior leader, and they’ll tell you that one of the keys to leadership is communication. Communication now moves at lightning speeds, and with teams becoming more diverse, being able to communicate with teams and individuals from all backgrounds is vital to leadership. Leadership programmes, such as Leading with Presence at RSM, focus solely on honing communication skills, ensuring you can convey your vision, foster collaboration and inspire those around you.

3. Enhance your self-awareness

Any leadership development programmes asks you to look inward, fostering healthy introspection so that you can understand your strengths, weaknesses, and leadership style. Ivin Mauricio, a participant of RSM’s Advanced Management and Leadership Programme, highlighted a deeply personal experience during his learning journey at RSM. By better understanding yourself, you will be able to perform more effectively as a leader, and leverage your strengths to achieve your individual goals. 

4. Become more innovative and adaptable

Leading teams and organisations means being able to quickly adapt and innovate new solutions. The volatile business landscape of the past decade has taught us that true leaders embrace change, transform in times of disruption, and drive innovative solutions. The short course Leading Change at RSM focuses on exactly this capability, and is essential for any advanced leader and people manager. 

Discover RSM's diverse offering of short courses in leadership.

Want to learn more about how leadership development can benefit you as an individual?

Strategies for team leadership development

Often, it’s more effective for organisations to develop entire leadership teams. This creates better standardisation of learning, and often results in a faster learning process. To develop teams to become better leaders, here are a few effective strategies to utilise.

1. Customised programmes

Develop customized leadership development programs that cater to the specific needs and goals of your teams. Built from the ground-up around your organisation’s challenges, needs and unique competitive environment, customised programmes are incredibly effective at developing leadership capabilities within your teams. RSM’s customised programmes draws upon the cutting-edge academic research of its business experts to co-create practical, immersive programmes that are designed to make a difference within your organisation.

2. In-company training

As an option with less time investment and less customisation, it is also possible to utilise in-company training. This involves taking pre-existing leadership courses at an educational provider such as RSM, and integrating them into your own organisation so that it is targeted towards your needs, objectives and people. This is a more simple process, leveraging the proven success of pre-existing short courses to instill leadership skills into teams with high impact and lower time and effort investment to implement. 

The most popular leadership programmes at RSM

Team Leadership

Learn relevant team leader skills. Your new knowledge and tools to deal effectively with motivational problems, dysfunctional team members, conflicts and lack of a common direction can be applied into your work immediately.

Student in Team Leadership

Advanced Management and Leadership Programme

Take your leadership capabilities to the next level, sharpen your critical thinking skills, and enhance your impact as a leader in this intensive modular programme for seasoned professionals.

Student in Advanced Management and Leadership Programme

Essentials of Leadership

Learn new perspectives and techniques to reach your highest personal and professional potentials as a leader, including how to build trust, manage conflict, use positive emotions for successful decision-making, and implement effective time management.

Student in Essentials of Leadership

The Challenge of Leadership

Expand your leadership repertoire; gain new perspectives, increase your ability as a leader and develop your own way to inspire your people.

Student in The Challenge of Leadership

Leading Change

Learn to understand and diagnose change, lead change, and implement change - by learning more about the change management process.

Student in Leading Change

Beyond HR: People, Culture and Transformation

Develop your HR skills to drive positive changes in organisational culture and elevate your role as an HR leader. Learn to think critically beyond HR, and shape the future of organisational culture by aligning HR practices with your company’s values.

RSM Diploma Programme in General Management

The fast track if you’re a professional or expert moving into the role of a manager or supervisor for the first time. Acquire techniques and competences to run your team smoothly and effectively. 

Student in General Management

Women in Leadership

Learn how to make your voice heard, take ownership, develop and understand your network, and gain confidence in being present. Learn how to manage yourself, manage relationships, manage diversity, and manage networks.

Student in Women in Leadership

Navigating Power Dynamics

Enhance your capabilities to manage power dynamics and lead with purpose, integrity, and empathy. Learn how to navigate the ever-evolving business landscape with refined soft skills and political acumen.

Woman confidently looking at the camera, with buildings in the background

No matter how you implement your leadership development programme, focusing on bringing engaging learning experiences to your workforce will bring the best out of your people, and this will have a demonstrable positive impact on your organisation.

RSM provides in-depth, innovative learning solutions for individuals and organisation, from immersive short courses to fully co-created customised learning programmes. As the best business school in the Netherlands for executive education, RSM is a great choice as a learning partner to support your teams, and your organisation's goals. 

What else do you want to know?

Leadership development for individuals

Read more about our short course offering for individuals. 

Executive Education student at Rotterdam School of Management learning leadership

Leadership development for organisations

Customised leadership development solutions to meet your organisation's needs. 

A team participating in leadership development at RSM.