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Two weeks ago, my son returned to college, though far from the traditional campus setting. Beginning his third year as an architecture major, his “campus” this fall is rural, impoverished Hale County, Alabama. Rural Studio, Auburn University School of Architecture’s award-winning design build program, has been located there for twenty years, creating a unique educational experience for a generation of architects.

While the location and rambling facilities suggest an obvious “we’re not in Kansas anymore” experience for students, several foundational elements of the program have caught my attention. One element in particular should be a consideration for how we in business build leaders and support organizational initiatives.

After a day in the community evaluating projects completed by previous student cohorts, the 15 students begin “neck down” week, a term coined by the late Samuel Mockbee, founder of the program. From early morning until dinner, students and faculty work about the community doing volunteer work -repairing, tearing out, and cleaning up. While the primary aim of the dirty work is to build connection with the community, there is more. Students begin to develop a sense of craft and gain first hand an understanding of the ease or complexity of structural repair. In this design build experience, one important priority is to design energy-conscious, easily maintained structures which can be repaired by people with limited skills and resources.

Leadership development program design can benefit from a similar approach. Programs that demand more time and energy from leaders than the organization will realistically embrace struggle with full engagement. In such cases, leaders are also stretched in their pre and post program work. Ironically, what may suffer the most is the energy committed to developing self and team. Similarly, it is not surprising when models, processes, tools, strategies, and initiatives rolled out to leaders as part of a development program fall short of achieving organizational goals when the skills and behaviors required for effective implementation are not quite at the level needed.

When we design strategies and programs for developing leaders, think sustainability. Consider such questions as these when designing leader development programs for sustainability:

• How much “energy” will be required by leaders in implementing the strategies, models, programs, and processes launched in a leadership development initiative?
• Is there a more “energy- efficient” design that will enable a simpler, more straightforward approach to achieving the desired outcome?
• To what extent will leaders be able to effectively meet the requirements as organizational resources and priorities shift over time? If there is risk that leaders will fall short under such circumstances, how can the program be designed for sustainability rather than fall into disrepair or fall apart altogether?

Leader skills also factor into sustainability. Designing developmental programs for sustained effectiveness calls for a reality check on the skill levels required for a successful outcome:

• To what extent do we consider existing leader skill sets when designing program models, processes, and practices?
• If new or updated practices or development programs call for new skill training, how will you ensure that the training achieves the necessary level of competency? How will you be able to sustain skill levels over time?
• Is there a simpler, more straightforward program design that builds actions toward a desired outcome in parallel with the progressive development of leader skills?

An important design consideration for a generation of Rural Studio architects is sustainability.   What about for you?