Natural leaders have a developmental quest. They recognize that good isn't good enough, that yesterday's solutions aren't fixes for today's challenges, and that experience isn't a substitute for learning. The natural leader's drive exists in an environment where Boards and bosses challenge the leader to do more with less. Boards and bosses are swift to judge; environments are punishing. We romanticize leadership and ignore organizational environments. We think, "It's easy for leaders to succeed; they have it made." In harsh environments, it is difficult to refresh leadership skills.

Multiple pathways do exist for refreshing leadership skills. Experience and observations of leaders in critical environments provide seven lessons to refresh leadership. The benefits of refreshing, of refurbishing, leadership skills occur at personal, team, and organizational levels.

1. Planned learning is fundamental. It requires a leader to risk, to experience guilt, to have anxiety. Leadership learning is often distant from fun. Both opportunistic and planned approaches create the fabric for fundamental, intentional learning.
2. Learning is rooted in aspiration and cultivated in the world of work. Leadership learning requires more than skill application. Organizations sorely need vision; vision creates success. Leaders develop a portfolio approach to learning to reap the benefits of multiple learning media.
3. Sequencing works for management development and it is insufficient for leadership development. Individuals who are developmentally oriented abandon formulaic plans and approach learning in personal and environmental encounters.
4. Successful leaders have healthy egos. Developed egos often act in opposition to learning. Consequently, this reinforces that leadership at the pinnacle is the product of self-awareness and self-understanding. Leaders acknowledge that self-acceptance provides the critical path to learning.
5. Leadership is not self-talk or self-conversation. Developing leaders bring others into the conversation; they are inclusive. They find ways to have meals and meetings with others; they invite feedback.
6. Leaders rehearse. They practice; in organization settings, this means practice for meetings and for conversation. Leaders position practice in action terms.
7. Leaders open themselves to others in two-ways. First, they disclose appropriately; leaders let us into their lives. Secondly, leaders get to know others. They find time, beyond meeting and greeting others, to understand. With these two approaches, leaders leverage and refresh personal learning.

Take account of your strategies for refreshing leadership. Are you employing strategies for refreshing leadership skills?

Many teams exhibit patterned and predictable leadership. In organizational environments that are more static than dynamic, patterned leadership creates a barrier to innovation. Organizations that fail to innovate either focus on the short-term or behave in ways that are detrimental to stakeholders. Many in organizations can exercise leadership and yet results are often disappointing. The disappointing outcome is produced when organizational executives focus on managerial leadership development and neglect a broad approach to leadership development. Organizations in dynamic environment can no longer forsake broad approaches to leadership development.

Failure to develop leadership at every organizational level stimulates latent inefficiencies and precludes optimal effectiveness. The arguments against widespread leadership development are typically three-fold. The first argument typically goes to shortsighted argument of expense; however, this argument typically fails to tie to any meaningful human resources metric. The second argument against widespread leadership development goes to focus. Executives feel that a broad approach dilutes scarce resources. The consequence of this argument is the selection pools remain untapped and slates for succession remain narrow and thin. A final argument against broad approach is a belief system that leadership is for the few versus the many. This lens essential devalues human experience and renders the expression "people are most valuable asset" meaningless.

Teams can be encouraged to renew leadership through analysis, dialogue, and observation. The results of the three approaches provide the platform and springboard to action. Genuine and sincere executive commitment to leadership change nourishes improvement team development and improvement. Measurements and reporting of results will assist in the renewal of team leadership. Organizations embarking on these efforts should consider ways to minimize disruption associated with change and to accelerate value.

Team renewal requires change at both the individual and organizational levels. At the individual level, multiple developmental theories and expressions of leadership requires exposition and the developing capability for action. At the organizational level, executive and leader commitment will accelerate with public commitment to change. The framework for team renewal is applicable in both working and real teams. The possibilities for growth enlarge with a renewal focus.

A new calendar or fiscal year provides a launching pad for forward-looking executives to replenish organizational leadership. Replenishment easily relates to concepts of taking-stock and adding-on to existing resources. These concepts are pleasing to those determined to grow and to succeed. Four approaches assist with the replenishment of organizational leadership.

Plan to have a plan. Experts are often in search of problems for their solutions. In the blink of an eye, complex systems or static talent reviews are readily invented. The response, too often, is executive disinterest and developer or consultant frustration. Disinterest and frustration are aided by a quick need or fixation on a certain result, with little connection to future organizational goals. In the case of replenishment, the adage "go slow to go fast" is critical for longer-term achievement.

Know your resources and people. This requires assessment of talent and other resources. It demands honesty and attention to detail. The act of taking stock enables leaders to envision possibilities to create environmental change. For time-pressed executives, stocktaking requires focus and attention; this process can be accelerated for value through the combined use of internal and external assessment.

Cast a big net. Organizations that effectively replenish leadership pull people into the process. These organizations do not create artificial barriers based on irrelevant considerations; stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination fuel immaterial considerations. Acknowledge and use multiple dimensions of diversity.

Consider the whole; focus on the person. Replenishment requires both a wide-angle and a narrow focus. The wide-angle promotes acceptance and forecasting of environmental demands and trends. The focus on the person contributes to the implicit understanding that individuals have unique hopes and aspirations. When an organization has the means and approaches to deliver on vision, leadership developers also can focus on the personal value propositions for developing leaders.

A resilient organization produces great environmental value. The value can be assessed in terms of organizational boundaries, environmental interaction, and process management. Resilient organizations contribute to social well-being because they create and engender respect - in the largest sense of the word. In return, the organizational opens possibilities for long-term growth and talent retention. Resilient organizations complement social environments.

Unlike many other organizations, resilient organizations are responsive. Resiliency suggests that an organization embeds understanding of what it means to operate at the prime-of-life. At prime, organizations abandon take-it or leave-it approaches. Resilient organizations seek solutions with stakeholders that value the long-term interests of all parties. Resilient organizations receive community appreciation that translates to organizational and social well-being.

Work in a resilient organization drives membership and commitment. The organization no longer remains a just a place to collect a paycheck but engages others in larger social endeavors. There are multiple examples of organizations that translate respect and responsiveness into firm well-being. Given the opportunity to work for a mission-critical organization or one that simply drives profits, people choose mission. Sagacious leaders know that mission and profit can be complementary concepts.

In a world that challenges us with many new demands, the need for resiliency is high. Leaders who understand the concept of resiliency will enjoy career success. Resiliency focus is often at the individual level of leaders. We can challenge ourselves by developing resilient organizations. These organizations will create future value by appreciating the current environment and focusing on desirable and sustainable futures.