Do you have a model of leadership competency needed for your business to succeed? If so, you are probably using it to shape the development of your next generation of leaders.
If not, you may be putting your business and your most promising people at risk as they navigate their way to becoming the leaders of tomorrow.
Many organisations struggle with building the depth and breadth of leadership talent they need for the future. They may have identified their best performers, carefully chosen some courses for them and developed a list of promotion opportunities.
But, somehow it doesn’t all come together and there may be a nagging doubt on the return on investment in time and effort.
So, how do you create the conditions where the people who can lead your organisation into the future can be nurtured and developed?
This may seem a simple question, but the answer is complex. Your organisation’s culture and way of operating, existing development practices and the aspirations of your people need to be taken into account.
Adults are motivated to learn something if it has value to them. Therefore, a program that will equip aspiring leaders with the skills they need to achieve their career goals will have great appeal.
Learning needs to be as practical as possible, providing tools and techniques for leading and managing that can be applied immediately. If the learning is delivered in a modular format so they can try out the skills and report back on progress, even better.
Our suggestions for engaging your leaders of the future in meaningful development are:
- Use your business goals and challenges to define the capability future leaders need to succeed.
- Devise a program that communicates and focuses on building this capability.
- Select the right assessments to help participants heighten their self-awareness.
- Design learning experiences that integrate seamlessly with the responsibilities and work schedules of the participants.
- Assign participants to projects of significance to the success of your organisation.
- Turn up the intensity of the learning by involving senior leaders in mentoring participants.