Building Leaders 101

A (very) quick introduction to leadership development in firms

Dan MitchellNov 26, 2014

Agenda

1.The Organizational Context

2.Have a Perspective

3.Talent Management

4.Developing Leaders

5.Issues

6.Summary

The Organizational Context

Start from where you are.

What is the content of the contract?

Be clear on what you’re ready to give in exchange for what they will get.

Start from where you are.

Figure out what you want.

Figure out what you want.

Figure out what you want.

Source: PSI University (www.psi.org)

Figure out what you want.

With competency models, be careful what you wish for.

Figure out what you want.

Source: PSI University (www.psi.org)

Integrated into:•360s?•Performance Reviews?•Leadership Training?•Coaching?•Engagement Survey?•Selection?•Annual bonus?•Long-term incentives?

Would you rather have 90% application of a 60% model, or

60% application of a 90% model?

(Boiling the Ocean)

Figure out what you want.

It’s less about the KPI and more about the

behavior it drives.

But be aggressive about addressing conflicting

priorities.

Figure out what you want.

1.What’s the culture you want?

2.What are the top two or three KPIs for which leaders must be accountable?

3.What leadership behaviors will drive those metrics, and that culture?

Surprisingly, these questions often go unexplored.

Have a Perspective.

What’s your model?

Be deliberate about what “Leadership” meansin your organization.

Remember: leadership is the brand.

Talent Management.

Leadership development doesn’t

stand on its own.

Source: Bersin by Deloitte (www.bersin.com)

Development without assessment is waste.

Having the perfect model is less important than applying a reliable and valid model consistently.

Talent reviews & succession.

Source: www.onlyonceblog.com

That being said...

Accept that your visibility is limited.

Source: www.onlyonceblog.com

Allow for the possibility of self-selection.

And consider your investment model.

Source: www.onlyonceblog.com

Don’t pander, but don’t ignore. Agree on the balance.

Developing Leaders.

Find your leaders, and challenge them.

Beware the curse of “perfect readiness”.

Time

Progression

Development in quantum leaps of scale, scope, and complexity at high

speed.

Conventional practice: Development in incremental steps over extended time.

Source: Ram Charan: “Leaders at all Levels” (c) 2008

Find your leaders, and challenge them.

At the higher levels the pool should become much smaller.

Work hard at building a culture of open feedback.

“All learning is feedback.”Peter Senge

Establish development relationships.

Provide formal coaching.

Focus on the jobs people do.

Don’t make it all about the workshops (and the

facilitator).

That said...

But only if the learning really matters.

Tony Robbins

Again, that said...

Leadership development isn’t just for the troops.

Change as you go (because you’ll make

some mistakes).

Issues.

Money.

It helps, but you can still develop great leaders on a budget.

Don’t neglect to consider culture.

If you can’t get senior leaders involved, that’s a

problem.

Individuals need to take ownership.

This isn’t an HR process (but it’ll certainly keep

HR busy).

Summary.

Start from where you are and figure out what you want.

(Running workshops won’t compensate for lack of a clear vision of what success looks like.)

Have the culture, behavior, and KPIs discussion.

(See your endgame and assess the gap)

When it comes to competencies, less is more.

(Keep it simple; Focus on the “must haves”; Use them where it counts)

Have a perspective on leadership.

(Vendors are in it for the $$; Philosophies actually matter; Your leadership is your brand)

Review and differentiate your talent.

Commit to their development.

Track the results. (Wash - Rinse - Repeat)

Find future leaders and challenge them.

(Diamonds are the result of time and pressure, but don’t think you’ll always know where to find them.)

Build leadership capacity and capability top to bottom...

(Leadership development isn’t only for the young’uns.)

but don’t paint with too broad a brush.

(One size does not fit all.)

The only way to lose this game is to refuse to play.

(Software updates never end, so why should developing leaders be different?)

Be a business partner - ensure accountability sits

where it should. (Give a man a fish...you know the story.)

We have one of the best jobs in the world.

(So go have fun for Pete’s sake!)