5 Effective Corporate Leadership Training Activities and Ideas That Work

While effective leaders are the foundation of any successful company, it’s also a fact that not all leaders are born.  Integrating inspiring corporate leadership training concepts and activities into your workplace culture is an easy and affordable strategy to foster leadership excellence at all levels of your organization. In addition to guaranteeing that your team has the abilities necessary to lead successfully, doing this will boost stakeholder confidence and employee engagement. 

Return on Investment for Leadership Development Activities 

Good leadership development exercises benefit your team in many ways. 

• Participants gain an understanding of their strengths as a leader and areas for development. 

• Team members develop a bond and become more adept at communicating and trusting one another. 

• Participants acquire self-assurance. 

The Three Major Shortcomings in Leadership 

Many organizations have serious leadership deficits in three areas.  

• Transparency: Transparency in your business promotes respect and confidence. 

• Performance management: One of the most effective ways to influence someone’s behavior is to measure their level of success. 

• Internal collaboration: Members of the team must put more effort into working together and less into their own tasks. 

Five Inspiring Leadership Development Exercises  

Use these simple corporate leadership training concepts that tackle the problems of internal collaboration and transparency to strengthen team cohesion and enhance your team’s leadership abilities. 

1. Conduct a Check-In: 

Asking participants to sum up their feelings in one word at the start of internal and virtual meetings can help team members connect. This acts as a warm-up for listening, fosters interpersonal connections, and gives everyone a sense of inclusion and being heard. Additionally, it promotes a higher degree of emotional intelligence because it allows participants to empathize with one another by understanding how their colleagues are experiencing. 

2. Start a “Ha” Circle:  

This hands-on activity fosters teamwork and is a fantastic way to increase energy. People deliberately convey the sound “ha” to one another while standing in a circle. They accomplish this by clapping their hands in the direction of the person they are passing their “ha” to and simultaneously uttering “ha.” The same behaviors are repeated by the “ha” recipient. 

The goal is to remove the “ha” from your hands as soon as you can. Everyone needs to make eye contact, stay present and focused, and have faith that someone will give them the “ha.” You are free to substitute any other word for “ha.” 

3. Host a “Cocktail” Party:  

This activity demonstrates that having a leadership presence—the capacity to command a space, boldly express your opinions, and communicate effectively and persuasively—does not require a specific title. To foster a collaborative culture, it is also beneficial to dismantle hierarchical barriers. 

Each participant is given a sheet of paper with a number on it ranging from 1 to 4. Every number denotes a certain position; for instance, 1 may be CEO and 4 for intern. After receiving their numbers, participants act out their allocated roles, pretend to be at a cocktail party, and predict which role everyone is in. Participants talk about their self-presentation and ways to strengthen their leadership presence after the activity. 

4. Call a Meeting to Discuss Big Bad Ideas: 

Encourage everyone to express their ideas for a project, regardless of how bizarre or daring they may seem, to engage and unleash your team’s creativity while giving them a sense of contribution. It’s incredible how people can express themselves freely without feeling constrained by criticism. Post everyone’s suggestions on a whiteboard, then work as a group to decide which are workable. 

5. Share Your Own Best Moment:  

Divide your team into two-person groups to assist members in building trust and learning a new listening technique that acknowledges and validates the other person. Ask one team member to share their greatest moment, either personally or professionally, and ask them to explain why they believe the person sharing the moment was successful. Team members can recognize and value their and each other’s abilities as a result of this introspection. It also makes it easier for individuals to express the value they add to their personal or professional lives. 

How to Continuously Develop Leadership Capabilities 

Significant change is unlikely if your organization only engages in leadership training exercises once or a few times. Leadership development, particularly in behavior modification, needs constant attention. 

To effectively address your unique business needs, corporate leadership training programs by Arvind Khinvesra offer customized leadership skills services. These include executive coaching, communication skills training, sales training programs, and executive presence training, all tailored to help you excel in your leadership role. 

Contact us today to initiate a conversation and discover how these programs can be aligned with your organizational goals.