With any plan, advantages and disadvantages will emerge. However, there are many positives built into a leadership development plan. Mainly, the plan usually includes work assignments that will develop a person’s leadership skills. Almost all plans allow a hands-on experience for people within an organization. Through this, people work in various departments that demonstrate how the organization operates at all levels. Jacowski states that “it is observed that these programs give a better understanding of the general functioning of the organization and the operations involved within the organization” (“Advantages”, 2008). Additionally, plans allow you to track people’s progress. Most leadership development plans include personal reflections, comments, goals, and action plans that enable a person to reach their full potential.
One downside of a leadership development program is that a person can begin to gossip confidential information and harness power. Since the individual feels more powerful, this can lead to the leakage of confidential information in order to continue to feel the acceptance of lower-level co-workers. In addition, the individual may begin to make demands on his co-workers. D’Amico believes that leaders can be indifferent or unkind, as one response would be to ignore and dismiss the needs and desires of employees (2005, p. 59). The imposition of authority among other employees can generate resistance among employees. Lastly, learning leadership skills can cause an individual to overlook management skills as well. For example, activities such as planning, organizing and coordinating activities can be ignored, as leading others now becomes a priority. While influencing people is important, sometimes an individual needs to be able to handle other skills to complete the job.
References:
D’Amico, V. (2005, June). Bad leadership: what is it, how does it happen, why is it important. Management Consulting, 16 (2), 59-61.
Jacowski, T. (2008, June 5). The advantages of leadership development programs. In Articlesbase. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/the-advantages-of-leadership-development-programs-439913.html