In addition to New Executive Integration and Executive Coaching, RI has 34 years experience designing and guiding leadership development programs. Here are some key ideas we think about leadership development.

• The purpose of developing leaders: Develop emotional intelligence in myself as a leader and build accountability for expected results in employees and the organization.
  
  
• Don't reinvent the wheel: Leadership development programs benefit when they are based on leadership models that are founded in empirical research.
  
  
• Customize to fit: Any leadership model should be customized to fit the culture of the organization and the leadership vision established by the executives.
  
  
• Comprehension does not equal competency: Trainings may contribute to comprehension of leadership concepts and techniques, but real competency develops on the job, working together with direct reports, peers, and management.
  
  
• Link to Performance Management: Each individual is responsible for his or her own development as a leader. But since the real competency develops on the job, the person's leadership development should be integrated with expectations and ongoing work with one's supervisor and with coaching and mentoring in the organization.
  
  
• Assessment tools can be useful to provide a benchmark of understanding and to highlight potential strengths and blind spots, but should not be used to judge whether a person is capable of developing as a leader. And the Birkman Profile is the most complete system for providing in-depth feedback for individual and team development.
  
  
• Add Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to IQ, Accountability, and Management Skills: All complete models of leadership development emphasize certain basic management skills and an emphasis on accountability. But as Daniel Goleman states in his Harvard Business Review article, What Makes A Leader, "emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership."