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At CCL, we’re grateful our clients value the leadership solutions wedesign and deliver all over the world. Strong ratings given by alumni consistentlyplace us near the top of the Financial Times’s annual survey of executive educa-tion. But as an individual who believes strongly in the motivating power of whatI like to call continuous dissatisfaction, I truly believe we can keep getting better.

A recent conference hosted by Fort Hill, a leader in learning follow-throughtechnologies, helped clarify something that CCL must do. Fort Hill’s event

focused largely on how to sustain learningonce the classroom experience ends. In otherwords, how can CCL help its clients puttheir new leadership knowledge and skills to

practical use once they step back into their offices?We’re constantly looking for ways to make this happen. In 2005, we teamed

with Fort Hill to introduce their Friday5s® technology into our flagshipLeadership Development Program (LDP)® for senior executives. Every otherFriday during their first ten weeks after completing LDP, our clients can log onfor reminders, tips, and coaching on how to integrate their new leadership skillsinto their daily work. They can check on leadership goals they set for themselvesand assess whether they are meeting those goals.

Impact is of course the name of the game in leadership development—anddata collected through Friday5s show that CCL is creating it. Clients report thatLDP is increasing their self-awareness, making them stronger communicatorsand team leaders, and better equipping them to handle conflict. In turn, they arehelping their organizations build a stronger leadership culture.

Still, CCL’s challenge remains clear: we need to deepen that impact byencouraging more of our clients to make use of the follow-through tools we pro-vide. To do that, we need to remind ourselves and our clients that leadershipdevelopment is not a one-week event in the classroom. It is an ongoing processthat extends into the workplace.

Our clients face a clear challenge as well. They want to see a real return onthe investment they make in leadership development—and they face some obsta-cles in doing that. The leaders they send to our programs are always pressed fortime, making it hard for them to focus on leadership skills once they have left theclassroom.

There is an answer. It involves CCL providing compelling postprogram tools.And it requires getting top executives to buy into the importance of leadershipdevelopment at their companies. When they do, they challenge organizationalleaders to make the most of their classroom experiences and to keep looking forways to integrate that knowledge on the job. Sustained learning, then, is a collab-orative act between CCL and its clients. And like leadership development itself,it’s a process that benefits from frequent fine-tuning.

John R. Ryan, president and CEO, CCL

From the President

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