To get the greatest ROI from these activities, we talked to experts from Udemy, Hubspot, and even Peerspace’s founder and CEO to learn about what kinds of programs they implement to create successful leaders in the workplace. Forget the trust fall and awkward icebreakers and try these leadership activities that actually work.

1. 7 Innovative Leadership
Development Activities

2. One of our core employee values is that “everyone is a manager.”
We look for team members that are self starters and strive to take
ownership of processes and tasks. We hold weekly team meetings
and quarterly offsites with the goal of fostering cross-collaboration
and interdisciplinary development. During these meetings, team
members have the opportunity to lead sessions and present to a
broader group. Overall, I place an emphasis on each team member
having an entrepreneurial mentality and to lead by example.
Rony Chammas
CEO & Founder
Peerspace
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

3. On HubSpot’s Marketing Team, we’ve rolled out leader shadowing
as part of our Emerging Leaders program. Each program participant
shadows a leader outside of the marketing business to observe their
day-to-day. Through this activity, the group learns to identify
different leadership behaviors and understand their impact on the
people around them.
Rebecca Corliss
Director of Marketing
Hubspot
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

4. Giving employees teaching roles makes learning part of the way
employees work together rather than something HR is making them
do. By offering a wider curriculum, we’re able to meet the wider
range of their needs and interests. I think that makes people feel
like they can be their whole self at work, whether we’re looking at
photography or mountain climbing or mindfulness.
Karen May
Vice President, People Development
Google
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

5. Artsy organizes regular “Manager Discussion Groups” themed
around different people management issues (ie, “Facilitating
Effective One on Ones” or “Inspiring & Motivating Your Team”). All
people managers are invited but we keep the groups small (8-15
people) and ask people to do some prep work in advance. This
leads to meaningful discussion and peer learning and helps us align
our values around around leadership expectations.
Elisa Colombani
Director of People
Artsy
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

6. As a decentralized organization, it’s essential that our directors and
managers are able to establish cross-functional connections with their
peers. We hold group leadership training sessions with these team
members, and schedule follow-up lunches for each cohort to meet
monthly. We ask them to develop action plans resulting from their
training and discuss not only which leadership skills they’re working on,
but also how and when they’re implementing them. The follow-up
sessions ensure accountability for applying best practices to day-to-day
work at Udemy.
Lisa Haugh
VP of People and General Counsel
Udemy
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

7. I recommend that you ask people on a regular basis how your
feedback is landing for them. You’ll learn whether people think
you’re pulling your punches or punching too hard, and that will
allow you to adjust. Not only will you get better at feedback, but
asking for this gauge and showing you appreciate it builds trust and
makes you a better leader.
Kim Scott
Co-founder
Candor Inc.
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities

8. I often use the DiSC Personal Profile to help people explore group
dynamics and the different ways people approach collaboration and
problem solving. One of the activities in the session is to sell a
randomly chosen item to someone who has a style very different
than your own. It helps people recognize that “different” does not
mean “wrong.” It also puts them on a path to develop a wider
range of leadership styles that helps them be effective with a
diverse set of people.
Chris Holmberg
Founder
Middle Path Consulting
7 Innovative Leadership Development Activities