70% of leadership development happens on the job. Not in classrooms, training, webinars, or reading. On the job. If you lead leaders, particularly those who have the ability, aspiration, and engagement to succeed you or your peers in the future, here are some things you can do to help them make the most of the development opportunities they encounter every day:
Give them difficult assignments. The best opportunities for developing leadership skills are start-up businesses, re-engineering or turn-around situations, divestitures, mergers, and acquisitions. Cross-organization projects also provide great development opportunities.
Expose them to other senior leaders. Developing leaders need exposure to different styles, philosophies, and approaches. Give them opportunities to observe and interact with your peers and superiors. Champion their efforts and achievements so they are sought after when new challenging assignments become available.
Give them timely and specific feedback. Good feedback reinforces effective behaviors and helps change ineffective behaviors. Share your observations and talk about what went well, what didn’t, and what to do differently in the future.
Allow them to fail. As leaders move up within the organization, the level of risk increases. To succeed, risk tolerance must also increase. Risk tolerance is a function of many things, including failure. Experiencing failure, learning from it, and moving on is a critical passage for emerging leaders.
Help them reflect. Take time in your 1:1 meetings to help leaders reflect on their experiences through open-ended questions:
- What did you achieve?
- What was difficult or uncomfortable for you?
- How did you stretch yourself? What risks did you take?
- What would you do differently next time?
- What would you do again?
- What are you most proud of?
- What do you want to share with others?
Tomorrow’s success is in the hands of today’s emerging leaders – don’t leave it up to chance.
763-545-5997
What are YOU doing to develop your leaders?
70% of leadership development happens on the job. Not in classrooms, training, webinars, or reading. On the job. If you lead leaders, particularly those who have the ability, aspiration, and engagement to succeed you or your peers in the future, here are some things you can do to help them make the most of the development opportunities they encounter every day:
Give them difficult assignments. The best opportunities for developing leadership skills are start-up businesses, re-engineering or turn-around situations, divestitures, mergers, and acquisitions. Cross-organization projects also provide great development opportunities.
Expose them to other senior leaders. Developing leaders need exposure to different styles, philosophies, and approaches. Give them opportunities to observe and interact with your peers and superiors. Champion their efforts and achievements so they are sought after when new challenging assignments become available.
Give them timely and specific feedback. Good feedback reinforces effective behaviors and helps change ineffective behaviors. Share your observations and talk about what went well, what didn’t, and what to do differently in the future.
Allow them to fail. As leaders move up within the organization, the level of risk increases. To succeed, risk tolerance must also increase. Risk tolerance is a function of many things, including failure. Experiencing failure, learning from it, and moving on is a critical passage for emerging leaders.
Help them reflect. Take time in your 1:1 meetings to help leaders reflect on their experiences through open-ended questions:
Tomorrow’s success is in the hands of today’s emerging leaders – don’t leave it up to chance.