Leadership Development

Leadership Development Steps

  1. Determine the most important competencies for leadership roles at the organization:

    • crucial for most executive positions at large companies: results orientation, strategic orientation, collaboration and influence, team leadership, developing organizational capabilities, change leadership, and market understanding.
  2. Rigorously assess the potential of aspiring managers: checking their motivational fit and carefully rating them on the four key hallmarks—curiosity, insight, engagement, and determination.
  3. Create a growth map showing how a person’s strengths in each of the hallmarks aligns with the competencies required in various roles.
  4. Give high potentials the right development opportunities—including job rotations and promotions, coaching and support

4 traits—curiosity, insight, engagement, and determination—predict how far managers will progress.

This requires mastery of 8 leadership competencies—results orientation, strategic orientation, collaboration and influence, team leadership, developing organizational capabilities, change leadership, market understanding, inclusiveness

Matching the Hi-Po to the Assignment—leading a large organization, managing a P&L, leading multiple regions or businesses, managing a corporate-wide function, running a start-up operation, and overseeing a restructuring.

Specific kinds of stretch assignments help executives build individual leadership competencies. To strengthen their results orientation, for instance, you can put them in jobs where they’ll manage a P&L, run a start-up, or oversee a restructuring.

When companies take this approach to leadership development—focusing on potential and figuring out how to help people build the competencies they need for various roles—they see results.