156 / DEVELOPING LEADERS
Investing in the future
Appointing talent
A successful organization needs a ready supply
of new leaders. Recruiting all future leaders
from outside your organization simply isn’t
cost effective; it takes a substantial amount of
management time and money to find the right
candidates and bring them up to speed. By
contrast, leaders who are promoted from within
your organization already have a very good
understanding of your organization’s culture and
working methods, and will have been nurtured and
trained by you to have exactly the suite of skills
and knowledge required to take on their new role.
For an organization to expand, it needs to invest in the development
of the new leaders that will take it forward. Individuals who display
leadership potential should be considered an important asset that
will grow if nurtured, and will be lost if not.
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INVESTING IN THE FUTURE / 157
Realizing potential
One of your key goals as a leader is to
recognize leadership qualities in others,
and to know how to encourage and assist
future leaders so they can realize their
full potential. It can be helpful to think
of leadership growing in a series of
transitions in self-awareness, skill, and
responsibility. Recognizing these crucial
changes in others, and responding
appropriately to them, will help
accelerate the development of new
leaders in your organization.
Each stage on the path to leadership
will bring different challenges—not
only in taking on new attitudes and
responsibilities but also leaving behind
familiar and comfortable behaviors.
This can be a highly stressful time
for newly appointed leaders and the
individual may not recognize or expect
the strains and associated emotions
of transition to their new role.
Feelings of uncertainty, being
overwhelmed, and loss of confidence
can immobilize new leaders at the very
point that they are expected to shine.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the person
who is making the transition will feel
comfortable raising these concerns
with you, their manager, for fear of
appearing to fail.
SPOT THE SIGNS OF
CHANGE
Train yourself as a leader
to recognize the signs of
transition between different
stages of leadership, and be
ready to support individuals as
they push for the next level.
Tip
65%
of executives claim
developing le aders
is their main
workforce concern
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158 / DEVELOPING LEADERS
CHECKLIST...
YES NO
Creating future leaders in your organization
1 Do you look for win–win situations for you/your team/
other teams/the organization? .......................................................
2 Do you demonstrate good stewardship of talent for
the whole organization’s benefit? ...................................................
3 Do you have a track record of unselfishly releasing
potential leaders to take up development opportunities? ..............
4 Do you initiate the development of potential leaders? ...................
5 Do you encourage members of your team to apply for
internal promotion or transfers? .....................................................
Help them identify what
they needed to let go of to
reach this stage
Identify the stage of
leadership the individual
has currently attained
How to help potential leaders make transitions
Others in the
organization start
to recognize
their vision
Potential leaders start
taking on more responsibility
and begin questioning the
ways things are done
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INVESTING IN THE FUTURE / 159
Recognizing leadership stages
The first sign of leadership potential is a
transition from being self-focused, and
simply performing to a high standard in
your own individual role, to becoming
more aware of, and helpful to, others.
Potential leaders then start taking
on more responsibility and begin
questioning the ways things are done
at the moment and coming up with
ideas for doing things differently.
As the potential leader develops,
others in the organization start to
recognize their vision and that they
have a talent for spotting important
opportunities that will benefit the team or
the organization as a whole. They thrive
on added responsibility, and when they
have a team to manage, they contribute
at a higher level, work well with their
peers, and show a talent for developing
team members. Others naturally
gravitate toward them to sound out
ideas; this process may be formalized
into mentoring or coaching roles.
Ultimately, they start to develop the skills
needed to nurture the next generation of
leaders in your organization.
Ask them what they do
differently now they are
at this stage
Decide between you the areas
you would like to develop next
Identify role models who
could help them make the
next transition
When they have a team to
manage, they contribute
at a higher level
billion is spent each year
in the US on leadership
development
$14
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160 / DEVELOPING LEADERS
OTHER-
AWARENESS
SELF-
AWARENESS
GUIDAN CE
TAKING UP THE NEW LETTING GO OF THE OLD
STATE OF
LEADERSHIP
Doing more than the job
description
Performing excellently
Accepting more
responsibility
Inheriting corporate
memory
Becoming a team player
Suggesting
improvements
Greater empathy
Helping fellow workers
Being diplomatic
Looking for win–win
solutions
Preferring people to
procedures
Referring to “We”
Looking for added value
opportunities
Accepting responsibility
for growth and results
Understanding and
promoting vision and
purpose
Prioritizing high value
opportunities
Doing the job description
Keeping to yourself
Focusing on your own
performance
Carrying out everything
to the letter
Referring to “I”
Conforming to previous
procedures
Carrying out without
challenging
Not questioning the brief
Going your own way
Focusing only on own
excellence
Valuing people based
only on technical skills
Using only financial
indicators
Focusing on people
not results
Going for the easy option
Blaming everyone else
for poor performance
Making leadership transitions
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