THE PEDAGOGY OF HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: MOBILIZING THE

LEADERSHIP PIPELINE ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

DR. TAYO ADULOJU, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WORKFORCE GROUP

At the Workforce Groups Institute of Workforce Development, one of our strategic focus areas is the research into
Theory and Practice of Leadership, specifically as it applies to social systems (public, private and civil society sectors). In
particular, our quest to advance the public interest through the reinvention and transformation of public institutions
has created unique insights into the Pedagogy of High Performance Leadership. Pedagogy deals with the
theory and practice of education, therefore, in layman terms, what are the best practices for developing High
Performance Leadership?
We have found that because there is a dearth of effective high performing leaders, the work of leadership development
tends to be outsourced to consultants, usually with mundane results. To truly build up to the point of organizational
breakthrough, we find that leaders must do the work of mobilizing the leadership potential at all levels of the
organization. The leader must teach others to lead. We have found that to do so the leaders must demonstrate 4
dimensions of leadership teaching styles related to the 4 Leadership Styles. All Mature Leaders demonstrate 4
adaptive Leadership Styles: Direct, Spirited, Systematic and Considerate. Each of these Leadership Styles
demonstrates a predominant Teaching Style. Adaptive Leadership Maturity is the ability of a Leader to select the style
and approach required to deliver the best results in a particular situation. When it comes to Teaching Styles however,
the Pedagogy of High Performance Leadership Development requires all 4 Styles delivered in an integrated format to
Build Future Leadership Competencies (Knowledge, Character, Skill-Set and Attributes).
The Direct Leadership Style tends to teach by giving Instruction to others and is directional in nature (telling the
student-leader what to do). Instruction builds the Knowledge of the Future Leaders.
The Spirited Leadership Style tends to teach by Mentoring the student-leader into the roles of leadership (using
lots of examples -including personal example-, inspiration, motivation, modeling and storytelling). Mentoring builds
the Character of the Future Leaders.
The Systematic Leadership Style tends to teach by Coaching (planning a system to help the student-leader
acquire the skills through practice, while providing support, wisdom and feedback). Coaching builds the Skill-Set of the
Future Leaderships.
The Considerate Leadership Style tends to teach through Counseling (leveraging the conversational approach to

direct the student-leader to learn from his own experiences and pointing them to principles and practices which that
student experience relates to). Counseling builds the Attributes of the Future Leaders.
Therefore, when it comes to developing and unlocking leadership potential across an Organization, successful leaders
convert the workplace into the learning place. They create the culture, systems, structure and practices within their
Organizations for Instruction, Mentoring, Coaching and Counseling required for the development of the Knowledge,
Character, Skills and Attributes of the next generation of Organizational Leaders.