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Leadership Development 3 - The Who


Select and Elevate Your Potential Leaders

"Remember: Leadership Development is not an event"

John Agno

When you are deciding who within your organization will be accessing your leadership development program, you are at the jumping off point of your greatest opportunity for capacity building or, unforgivingly, your greatest opportunity to miss the boat.

The Tap

One of the approaches that is often utilized is selecting people within your organization that have already shown some leadership potential. While this is a safe strategy, it does put some pressure on your current managers to get it right. Having some criteria in place will assist getting teams on the same page prior to candidates being selected. This also speaks to the importance of Step 2, “The What,” as managers will seek out leadership candidates that match what your organization has already said are the leadership characteristics needed to move things forward. The potential downside of “The Tap” is that some leadership nuggets may be missed. As well meaning as your managers are, Unconscious Bias is alive and well to varying degrees in all organizations. It would be prudent to establish where potential biases might exist prior to starting your leadership candidate search.

The Application

A second approach could include an application process for potential leadership candidates. This would enable the organization to establish a set of minimum requirements that would act as a screening process, sifting out people who do not have the requisite skill set or experience, or at least have not demonstrated them yet in their time with you. It would also create a common foundation that would facilitate a starting point for the development process with the selected candidates. Another advantage of an application process is that it is open to everyone. Although there would still be plenty of opportunity for any potential bias to show up at some point, the application process minimizes the chances that a diamond in the rough may get missed. Remember, you are not looking for established leadership skills; rather you are looking for leadership potential. Establishing with your managers or HR team what some common indicators might be for leadership potential will increase your chance of success and decrease your chances of missing out on some quality candidates.

The Wide Net

The best way to ensure that your leadership development program does not miss any potential greatness is to make it accessible to everyone. That's right - everyone. If you have the capacity and the budget to make it accessible to all employees, then you should. The potential upside of this is threefold:

  1. It shows from the outset that within your organization, all employees are valued.

  2. It is the best way to ensure that potential leaders do not get missed.

  3. It is a great way to engage your employees on what you feel are the pieces crucial to the future of the organization.

Realistically, this approach will also act as a sifting device. Employees who have no interest in leadership will steer clear. The curious may sign up and check it out for a while, but when they realize the commitment required, will likely move on. This is a good thing because what remains will be the uncut gems from which will be developed the future leadership of your organization.

Diversity

If your organization does not have a good understanding of its current level of diversity, it may be worth your while examining this prior to launching any leadership development program. Evidence of the challenges presented by diversity is everywhere. Companies that create successful leadership development programs understand that there are great opportunities presented by the diverse nature of their employees, clients and customers. I touched on a few of these in a previous post, Creating Organizational Strength from Diversity.

Next… Leadership Development 4 – The HOW - "Engagement and Delivery"

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