When Major Shirley King grew up on a military base in Labrador, teaching tools consisted of pencils, paper and squeaky chalk on an old blackboard. Today, Major King is executive director of Grace Haven, a centre for pregnant and parenting mothers in Hamilton, Ont. She uses a laptop and a Blackberry and is learning all about Twitter. With the constant development of new technology, our society is evolving at a rapid pace and the learning and leadership process is changing just as quickly. That's what Major King discovered at the Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) led by Simon Fraser University (SFU) instructors at The Salvation Army's Jackson's Point Conference Centre.

“Over the past six years, 158 Salvation Army leaders have participated in the program led by Charles Holmes and Carol McKinnon,” says Major Mona Moore, leadership development secretary, THQ. “As an organization we are grateful for the support and training that has been offered through this program.”

“The role of leadership has been changing over the years in the Army,” says Major King. “We've moved from a hierarchical system with information coming down from the top to new information percolating up from the bottom. This leadership training course has been transformational in my life and career. It's helped me understand that leadership comes from character and not position. I think as the Army adopts this new style of leadership, the impact will be phenomenal. Your voice is heard, and you get encouraged and empowered. It's very liberating.”

Fair Process
The leadership program is based on a system known as “fair process,” which shows that employees will commit to a manager's decision—even one they disagree with—if they believe that the process used to reach the decision was fair.

Fair process incorporates an understanding of human nature. Whatever our role in an organization, we all want to be valued as human beings and not solely as personnel. We want others to respect our intelligence and we want to understand the rationale behind specific decisions. People are sensitive to the signals conveyed through a company's decision-making processes. The approach reveals that if a company possesses a willingness to trust people and seek their ideas, the result is positive.

The role of leadership shifts to shaping the understanding, development and learning of team members so they can act both independently and in concert with the goals of the whole organization

The basic elements of fair process are engagement, explanation and expectation clarity. Engagement means involving individuals in the decisions that affect them. Explanation means that everyone affected should understand why final decisions are made, ensuring managers have considered all opinions and made decisions impartially in the best interests of all. Expectation clarity means managers state clearly the new rules of the game. Employees should know how they will be judged and the penalties for failure.

Relationship Building
Major King suggests that this new training changes her role in the Army from one of service to relationship building. It's coaching, but more than that. “It's very exciting to see how a person 'owns' a situation after they have identified the problem themselves and then takes charge to solve it,” she says. “Just being part of the process makes them feel empowered. I think the Army is really on side with these new learnings and I think this will be part of the new culture.”

Major Fred Waters, area commander, Prairie and Northern Territories Division, agrees: “My personal perspective is that true leaders work out of character, not out of position.”

“Our top leadership is committed to these leadership principles,” says Major Susan van Duinen, divisional commander, Manitoba and Northwest Ontario Division. “All of them have taken the ELDP and understand the concepts. For me, the bigger question may be: Is ELDP making a difference? My answer from a grassroots level is, 'yes.' The principles of ELDP build trust, awareness and the future.”

Major David Carey, executive director, The Salvation Army Centre in Sudbury, Ont., cautions that change in a hierarchical system seldom comes quickly. In a military-style organization, leaders need to adapt. In times of rapid change, this traditional style of leadership,─with a leader calmly commanding the troops from a position overlooking the field of battle,─may no longer be possible.

“When I first came to Sudbury four years ago,” says Major Carey, “I was told our decrepit building was about to close, and we had serious funding and employment issues. Now funding is stabilized, staff and programming have doubled, and we have started a new building drive.”

Adapting to Changing Conditions
What Major Carey learned at the SFU leadership training courses showed that when high levels of complexity and uncertainty are the order of the day, leaders can no longer assume they can know or control what goes on. Plans must be adapted to changing conditions. The role of leadership shifts to shaping the understanding, development and learning of team members so they can act both independently and in concert with the goals of the whole organization.

This new leadership training emphasizes that coaching happens from the inside out. Leaders have to be consciously aware of who they are, how they are perceived, and what their own strengths and weaknesses are. They need to learn and develop before they can begin to help their personnel do the same. They must be a model of what they want to see in others. This management development process is focused on a special kind of leader, one who is self-aware, models inclusive values, builds trust, and sees the learning and development of others as central to his or her role. This leader is a coach who engages others to create a high-commitment and high-performance culture.