What distinguishes truly exceptional leaders? Is it innate talent, or is there more to the story?
In 1993, a groundbreaking study challenged our understanding of expertise, paving the way for a new approach to skill development.
Deliberate Practice: The Birth of the 10,000 Hours Rule
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Rome’s 1993 paper, “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance”, revolutionised our understanding of how individuals become experts. Their research suggested that exceptional performance stems not from innate talent but from a specific type of focused, purposeful practice.
Ericsson and his colleagues wrote:
“We argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain.”
In the leadership domain, this concept challenged the prevailing belief that great leaders are born. Instead, it proposed that leadership expertise results from long-term, dedicated effort.
Understanding Deliberate Practice
Deliberate practice is not just any form of practice. It’s a highly structured activity aimed at performance improvement. Key elements include:
- Focused, goal-directed training
- Immediate feedback
- Repetition and refinement
- Pushing beyond one’s comfort zone
As Ericsson explained in a later paper:
“The core assumption of deliberate practice is that expert performance is acquired gradually, and effective performance improvement requires the opportunity to find suitable training tasks that the performer can master sequentially.”
For leaders, this might involve setting specific goals to enhance certain leadership skills, seeking regular feedback from team members and mentors, and consistently challenging themselves with more complex leadership roles or tasks.
The 10,000-Hour Rule: Myth and Reality
The concept of deliberate practice gave rise to the famous “10,000-hour rule”, popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”. This rule suggests that achieving expertise in any field takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice.
However, it’s crucial to understand that it’s not merely about accumulating hours. As Ericsson clarified in a 2016 paper:
"The number of hours of deliberate practice to attain expert performance varies enormously among domains."
In leadership, this implies that while experience is valuable, the quality of that experience is paramount. A leader with two decades of experience who hasn’t actively sought improvement may not be as effective as one with half the experience who has consistently engaged in deliberate practice.
Deliberate Practice in Leadership: A Nuanced Perspective
A meta-analysis by Hambrick et al. (2014) provides important context to our discussion:
“We conclude that deliberate practice is important, but not as important as Ericsson has argued. For example, in our re-analysis of previous data, we found that deliberate practice explained 26% of the variance in performance for games, 21% for music, 18% for sports, 4% for education, and less than 1% for professions.”
This finding is particularly relevant for leadership, which falls under the “professions” category where deliberate practice explained the least variance. It suggests that while deliberate practice can be a valuable tool for leadership development, it should be viewed as part of a broader, more holistic approach to cultivating leadership expertise.
The findings from Hambrick et al.’s meta-analysis might initially seem discouraging for leaders looking to improve their skills through deliberate practice. However, it’s crucial to interpret these results in context and consider other research specific to leadership development.
Firstly, the complexity of leadership as a domain may make it more challenging to apply deliberate practice in its traditional form. Leadership involves many skills, from strategic thinking and decision-making to emotional intelligence and communication. This complexity might contribute to the lower explained variance in the meta-analysis.
However, this doesn’t mean deliberate practice is ineffective for leadership development. Research specific to leadership suggests otherwise. For instance, a study by Day, Harrison, and Halpin (2009) proposes that:
“Leader development involves developing the capacity for leaders to learn from their experiences and adapt, which aligns closely with the principles of deliberate practice.”
Moreover, a 2017 study by Kouzes and Posner found that leaders who regularly engaged in behaviours associated with exemplary leadership (which could be considered a form of deliberate practice) significantly improved their leadership effectiveness over time.
The Role of Intuition in Leadership Expertise
While deliberate practice is crucial for developing leadership skills, it’s also important to consider the role of intuition in expert leadership. In their 2009 paper “Conditions for intuitive expertise: A failure to disagree,” Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein explored the development of intuitive expertise, which has significant implications for leadership.
Kahneman and Klein argue that intuitive expertise can develop under specific conditions:
“True experts, it is said, know when to trust their intuition and when to be wary of it… We conclude that intuitive judgments can arise from genuine skill, but they can also arise from inappropriate application of heuristic processes.”
For leaders, this means that while deliberate practice is essential for developing skills, the ability to make quick, intuitive decisions in complex situations is also a crucial aspect of leadership expertise. However, not all intuitions are created equal. Kahneman and Klein distinguish between:
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- “True expertise” that leads to superior performance
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- Overconfident judgment based on invalid cues
This distinction is crucial for leaders. While experience can lead to valuable intuitions, it can also reinforce biases if not coupled with deliberate practice and critical reflection.
The development of valid intuitive expertise in leadership aligns closely with the principles of deliberate practice. Kahneman and Klein emphasise the importance of:
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- A regular, predictable environment where patterns can be learned
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- Opportunities for prolonged practice
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- Clear, rapid feedback on decisions
These conditions mirror the key elements of deliberate practice we discussed earlier. For leaders, this might mean:
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- Actively seeking out leadership challenges that allow for pattern recognition over time
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- Regularly practising decision-making in simulated or low-stakes environments
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- Establishing systems for quick feedback on leadership decisions and their outcomes
By combining deliberate practice with understanding how intuitive expertise develops, leaders can work towards mastery that encompasses carefully honed skills and well-calibrated intuition.
As Kahneman and Klein note:
“The acquisition of expertise in complex tasks such as leadership of large organisations is probably more similar to learning chess than to learning surgery.”
This suggests that leadership expertise, like chess mastery, requires a combination of deliberate practice, pattern recognition, and the development of valid intuitions over time.
Quality Over Quantity: The Heart of Deliberate Practice
Recent research has emphasised that the quality of practice matters more than the sheer number of hours spent. A 2019 study by Coughlan, Williams, McRobert, and Ford found that:
“Elite performers engaged in higher quality practice, including more immediate feedback on performance and setting specific goals, compared to non-elite performers.”
For leaders, this might mean focusing on specific aspects of leadership in their practice. For example, a leader aiming to improve their public speaking skills might record their presentations, analyse them critically, seek feedback from trusted colleagues, and set specific goals for improvement in areas like clarity, engagement, or body language.
Applying Deliberate Practice in Your Leadership Journey
So, how can you apply these principles to achieve mastery in your leadership? Here are three key takeaways:
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- Set specific goals and seek feedback: Break down your larger leadership goals into smaller, measurable objectives. For instance, if you want to improve your team’s performance, you might set a goal to have one-on-one development conversations with each team member monthly. Regularly seek feedback from your team, peers, and superiors to guide your improvement. As Ericsson noted:
“Deliberate practice involves feedback and modification of efforts in response to that feedback.”
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- Practise with purpose: Instead of relying solely on on-the-job experience, create specific opportunities to practise leadership skills. This could involve role-playing difficult conversations, participating in leadership simulations, or taking on challenging projects that stretch your current abilities.
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- Embrace discomfort: Push yourself beyond your comfort zone. This might mean volunteering to lead high-stakes presentations or projects, mediating conflicts within your team, or taking on leadership roles in areas where you have less experience. As Ericsson and Pool wrote in their book “Peak”:
“This is a fundamental truth about any sort of practice: If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve.”
Limitations of Applying Deliberate Practice to Leadership Development
While the principles of deliberate practice offer valuable insights for leadership development, it’s crucial to acknowledge the limitations of applying this framework, originally developed for more structured domains, to the complex field of leadership.
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- Complexity and Variability of Leadership Contexts: Unlike chess or music, leadership situations are often unique and context-dependent. The unpredictable nature of human interactions and organisational dynamics makes it challenging to create the controlled, repetitive practice environment that deliberate practice typically requires.
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- Difficulty in Defining Clear Performance Criteria: In domains like sports or music, performance criteria are often clear and measurable. Leadership effectiveness, however, can be more subjective and multi-faceted, making it harder to set specific practice goals or provide immediate, accurate feedback.
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- Limited Opportunities for Safe ‘Practice’: Many crucial leadership moments occur in high-stakes situations where the consequences of failure are significant. This limits the opportunities for leaders to ‘practise’ in the way a musician or athlete might.
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- The Role of Soft Skills: Leadership heavily relies on soft skills like emotional intelligence, adaptability, and communication. These skills may not improve in the same linear fashion as more technical skills through deliberate practice alone.
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- Time Constraints: The demanding nature of leadership roles often leaves little time for structured practice sessions, unlike professional athletes or musicians who can dedicate large portions of their day to deliberate practice.
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- The Importance of Real-World Experience: While deliberate practice is valuable, real-world leadership experience – with all its complexity and unpredictability – plays a crucial role that can’t be fully replicated in practice settings.
The Journey to Leadership Mastery
The path to leadership mastery is not always smooth. You’ll face challenges, setbacks, and moments of doubt. But remember, every great leader was once a beginner. With deliberate practice, you’re not just accumulating experience – you’re strategically working towards leadership excellence.
As you embark on this journey, keep in mind the words of Ericsson and his colleagues:
“The attainment of expert performance requires a lifetime of sustained motivation and effort… The commitment to deliberate practice distinguishes the expert performer from the vast majority of adults who seem satisfied to reach a merely acceptable level of performance.”
Are you ready to commit to the journey of deliberate practice and unlock your full potential as a leader?
Your Next Steps
Applying the principles of deliberate practice to leadership can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. As a coach specialising in leadership development, I can help you:
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- Design a personalised deliberate practice plan for your leadership growth
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- Set practical leadership goals and track your progress
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- Develop strategies to overcome leadership challenges and plateaus
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- Provide the feedback and accountability crucial for deliberate practice in leadership
Ready to take your leadership skills to the next level?
Contact me today to learn more about how my coaching services can accelerate your journey to leadership mastery. Let’s work together to unlock your full potential and achieve the excellence you’re capable of as a leader!
References
- Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-406.
- Ericsson, K. A. (2006). The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance, 38, 685-705.
- Macnamara, B. N., Hambrick, D. Z., & Oswald, F. L. (2014). Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: A meta-analysis. Psychological Science, 25(8), 1608-1618.
- Coughlan, E. K., Williams, A. M., McRobert, A. P., & Ford, P. R. (2019). How experts practice: A novel test of deliberate practice theory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(3), 474-490.
- Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- Hambrick, D. Z., Oswald, F. L., Altmann, E. M., Meinz, E. J., Gobet, F., & Campitelli, G. (2014). Deliberate practice: Is that all it takes to become an expert? Intelligence, 45, 34-45.
