I have known Todd for some time and the opportunity to talk to him about LeadNow! was too good to turn down. Todd is passionate about developing today’s young adults into tomorrows positive leaders….. I just love it!
Tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get involved in leadership development?
I’ve spent almost 15 years in the corporate world – first within Aerospace and then FMCG, leading and building teams across procurement, supply chain and innovation. I’ve experienced poor leadership, I’ve experienced great leadership, and over the years I have been both myself.
I got really into studying leadership a few years back when my daughter was born and I began to question what kind of world I would like her to grow up in – and therefore, what type of leaders we need to be shaping it.
So what is LeadNow?
I’d just finished my second book, titled ‘Prevolution – Rethinking Generation-Y Leadership’, and I was searching for a structure of leadership development which fitted with both the innate characteristics of a new generation, and the needs of our evolving world when I was introduced to the work of Extraordinary Leadership.
They had been running deeply experiential leadership development programmes with corporate executives around the world in a way that completely dovetailed into what I was searching for. The execs on their programmes would typically say “I wish I knew this when I was younger”, and so we co-founded Leadnow!.
It’s our mission to make this world class leadership development available to young adults from all walks of life.
What does LeadNow do?
We run fun and engaging leadership programmes – and we typically structure the programmes over three days. Day 1 is all about leadership of self: my mission, values and purpose in life; how I overcome fear and anxiety; how I make friends with the little voice in my head that says “you can’t”; and how to get into ‘the zone’.
On day 2 of the programme, we shift to connecting with others – seeing the world from different points of view, developing emotional intelligence, handling conflict and coaching others to help release their potential. The final day consists of looking at the formation of teams, how they perform to the max, and what gets in the way.
How can leadership development benefit people trying to get their foot on the career ladder?
Once you go beyond appropriate qualifications, the recent survey by Impetus PEF identified 6 essential capabilities that employers look for when considering ‘work readiness’ – self awareness, resilience, self assured, driven, receptive, and informed. Our education system does little to enhance the raw ability of young people to develop these attributes – that’s where leadership development for young adults fits in.
What about experienced leaders, can they still benefit from leadership development?
Look at the corporate spend on leadership development – there’s certainly a market for it. What is interesting for me is not that the work of Extraordinary Leadership has translated so seamlessly into the young adult space; but that so few junior and middle managers get to access this kind of development until they’ve risen a few more notches up the pay scale. Leadership development has been the preserve of an elite few, we’re going to change the status quo because we believe that everyone is a leader, even if only of oneself.
“I love changing the status quo, for me you are doing it and I am energised to continue my own journey and relish the opportunities to collaborate with Todd” Annemie Ress
Todd Eden is a leading expert in Generation-Y leadership development at LeadNow! You can follow Todd on Twitter @Lead_now and find out more about the Leadnow!’s open courses here: http://www.leadnow.eu/#!events/cq5j
