FCV TOTAL: an analysis of leadership development best practices and recommendations

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to provide recommendations for improving the existing Farm Credit of the Virginia's, ACA (FCV) "Training of Today’s/Tomorrow's Association Leaders" (TOTAL) leadership development program. In the wake of pending retirements and increased competition for experienced and talented leaders, FCV has developed the TOTAL leadership development program. TOTAL is a competency based program designed to enhance the interpersonal skills of high potential leaders. An extensive literature review was performed to identify leadership development best practices. The best practices identified were as follows: having an organizational culture of leadership development, leaders developing leaders, 360-degree feedback, coaching and mentoring, and job assignments and action learning. An analysis of the existing TOTAL program yielded the identification of strengths, opportunities, and challenges. Finally, recommendations for improving the effectiveness of TOTAL were provided.