The SilverKey Partners Advantage

Engaging | Practical | Outcomes-Oriented

A 2014 McKinsey study* claimed that companies in the US alone spent almost $14 billion annually on leadership development - which was characterised as, "lavished time and money on improving the capabilities of managers and on nurturing new leaders". They asked 500 executives globally to rank their top 3 priorities, and they called out 'Leadership Development' as both a current and future priority. Yet, the effectiveness of these interventions are suspect. If we correlate these with studies on impact - a British business school, found that only 7% of senior managers believed that their companies develop leaders effectively and about 30% of US companies admit that they have failed to exploit their international business opportunities fully because they lack enough leaders with the right capabilities.

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Since 2016, we have interviewed over 100 CXOs on what they believe to be the key challenges in driving business outcomes from leadership development initiatives. Three key reasons emerge - timing, relevance and follow-through.

In most cases, leadership capability is assumed, or the development need is delayed, if not ignored for the sake of short term goals, often till the cracks start to show up. Also, what's popular (read = "optics") takes precedence over what's relevant. And finally, the euphoria of having checked another box provides the dopamine, but without the much needed continuity and practice, precious little can be changed.

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These findings have guided our mission at SilverKey Partners -

'recognise and preempt potential pitfalls, and stay focused on business outcomes'.

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Given the stated challenges, SilverKey Partners builds all their solutions on the five core fundamentals of andragogy -

1. Assumes participants are self-motivated to learn

2. Accords autonomy to the individual

3. Respects their wisdom, and builds on their past experiences

4. Promises a real value-add to their life, today, and

5. Offers practical solutions, designed for the real world

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* Source: McKinsey study