There are several characteristics that make a good executive leadership training program. The most important characteristic is that the training should improve the capabilities of the people in the organization so that you achieve the business goals and objectives. The training should be customized to address the specific needs of the people being trained, train to all of the competencies you require for your leaders, and focus on goal achievement.

One mistake many organizations make is they fall into the trap of being impressed by speakers and training systems that use all the latest industry jargon found in leadership books. Any training that your organization engages in should first and foremost result in a noticeable difference in the performance of your people.

If you bring in speaker and they do a presentation that is motivational and engaging, everyone will be excited and complement the speaker and the program. However, you notice no difference in the performance of your people. This means the event failed your organization. In fact, most events will not yield the kind of results you want. Good executive leadership training is a process, not an event.

There is never a "one size fits all" product. Every organization and environment is different. You could take two companies in the same industry, offering similar products and services and each organization will have different challenges. Therefore, good executive leadership training is customized to meet the unique needs of the organization.

One way to ensure your leadership training will address the needs of your people is to be clear on the expectations and the competencies required to meet those expectations. Then, you can measure the performance and determine the gaps between current and desired performance. Remember the goal of the training is to develop the leader to achieve the results of the organization. So you want to make sure that your training is results based not just competency based.

There are five components that are absolutely necessary for moving an organization towards desired objectives. These components are skills, knowledge, goals, attitudes, and habits. If your leaders don't have leadership skills, lack the knowledge necessary to perform well, and have no goals, they are destined to perform poorly. Even if they have the first three components, they will still perform poorly if they have poor attitudes and habits.

In summary, executive leadership training should be a customized development process. The training should address the five major components and focus on achieving organizational results. If your leadership training program incorporates these things, you will have a successful program.