What Best in Class Companies Do To Grow Leaders: Part 2

• Author: Eric Jackson
• Posted: September 20, 2007
• Category: Talent Management
• Tags: No Tags
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[Editor’s Note: In Part One, Eric elaborated on the leadership shortage. In the conclusion, he gives us an Action Plan.]

Part 2

Meet with your boss to discuss the results of the assessment and build an Action Plan.
Leadership Development programs fail if the leader’s boss is not involved. It’s critical to meet with the boss to discuss the strengths and weaknesses that were identified in the assessment. The leader is always interested to have the opportunity to hear how his/her boss sees his/her strengths and weaknesses. This meeting also needs to focus on building a Leadership Development Plan, which the leader and boss buy-in to and endorse.

Track the Leadership Development Action Plan over time.
What good is a plan if you don’t track it and do what you say you will do? The process of setting up and tracking this action plan forms the basis of the “Leadership Development Program” that the best-in-class companies follow. This program is separate from any performance review process. It is a supplement — not a replacement. In our work, we act as external coaches who come in and meet with the leader once a quarter to review progress over time (usually two years). The leader’s boss is kept in the loop by receiving updates of the plan on a quarterly basis and then coming back at the one-year and two-year marks to meet with the leader and external coach. Knowing that you are accountable for progress is a huge stimulant to the leader.

Encourage mentors in your organization - but don’t force them.
Mentors are great. Who hasn’t had someone take an interest in us at one point in our lives and give us some advice which was really valuable? Yet, a lot of organizations have tried to “assign” mentors to “high-potentials,” as part of their leadership development programs. This just doesn’t work. It’s like fixing up two people on a blind date who have nothing in common or are too busy to meet. The best approach we see is to have the leader and boss discuss some possible mentors (a lot of times the boss will have the best ideas because he/she knows a wider universe of people in the organization who might be interested and a good fit with the leader). Then the boss should contact the possible mentor, rather than the leader. We’ve seen successful mentor relationships where the two people meet once a year for dinner, and others where they meet every couple of months. It’s up to the two people. When it works, mentors can have a dramatic impact on “high-potential” leaders.

Discuss career path.
Many bosses don’t make time to sit down and discuss a “high-potential” leader’s future career path at that company. However, the ones who do can create tremendous loyalty. People appreciate it (even highly talented people who you might think get tired of all the acclaim they receive) when their boss closes the door and says “Let’s talk about what you want to accomplish here and how I can help.” Ideally, this career vision gets tied into the Leadership Development Plan.

Leadership Development is tough. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be having a “crisis.” Recruiting is an answer to a short-term need, but it doesn’t address the underlying problem. The best organizations understand that — buy into it whole-heartedly — and build systematic processes to ensure their best people know where they need to develop and what their future career path looks like at that company.

If you have any questions about how RCI Recruitment Solutions can help your organization grow the leaders of tomorrow, contact us today.