Last week I wrote about humility in leadership.

And, as usual, I had some really interesting conversations with you lot.

Before I move on, let me just say this: The Spin Sucks community ROCKS!

Ok, back to the conversations.

One chat I had in particular, about team leadership training, really stuck with me.

It was with J.D. Robertson, who, after a little sleuthing, I discovered is Major James D. Robertson, which explains his military knowledge!

James left an impressive comment. A veritable blog post in itself. He spoke eloquently about how leaders are usually not born, but created. Taught. Coached. But this comment of his really stood out for me:

Leadership is so important to the military formal classes the subject begins in basic training. The higher the rank the more intricate the courses become. A prerequisite to certain superior rankings requires formal extended leadership training in an academic environment.

That got me thinking. Why don’t more leaders groom and coach the up-and-comers? How come team leadership training doesn’t start during that first “Would you like sugar with that?” job we all had at one time or another? Why isn’t leadership training a by-the-book prerequisite to moving up in your civilian career? (more…)