Wednesday 10 October, 2012
The old ways of growing leaders is not enough to prepare us
for the complexity, terror, uncertainty and excitement of the time we
are in. However there are a number of straightforward antidotes that can
immediately improve the way we develop leaders.
High
potential leaders are typically culled from the ranks of those with
technical mastery in their respective disciplines. They are usually sent
away for training in a new technical arena or passed through a rotation
of brief assignments in key areas to expand the breadth and scope of
their knowledge. We develop minds to comprehend what's out there and
frequently overlook the heart and soul.
Performance assessments focus on the short-term measurable results. Those who continue to deliver are promoted while those who struggle tend to fall out of favour quickly.
Here are a number of straightforward antidotes that can immediately improve the way we develop leaders:
- Make executive development a business imperative
Real development is more than just a sequence of jobs accomplished. It is more than a step approach in assignments that requires people to work harder and longer. It unfolds over an extended period of time and requires substantive dialogue about the self of leaders. Don't persist in looking for short cuts because each one you find will cost you down the road.
- Focus on the inner operating assumptions as well as external results
Explore leaders' emotional depth. Find out what role hardship has played in their leadership and life. Inquire how they engage others who struggle. We unconsciously reduce our doubts and fears by not taking risks.
Many executives struggle with fear and in doing so act in ways to attempt to compensate for that fear rather than acknowledge it. Help young leaders gain an awareness of their own inner strategies for reacting to fear. By acknowledging and learning to breakthrough your fear you will achieve greater levels of performance.
- Emphasise team relationship skills and achievement
Some organisations practically deify technical knowledge as the ticket into middle or senior leadership roles. There is no research to support this is the case and organisations could potentially pay a long-term price for this strategy.
Both relationship skills and achievement are better predictors of leadership performance than technical mastery. Real achievement is more than activity - it is purposeful and focused. It requires dialogue to build alignment. This is not squishy psychobabble but the candid, courageous ability to raise difficult performance issues and see them through to resolution in ways that strengthen both outcomes and relationships.
- Model openness to the emotional component of leadership
Leadership is far more emotional than we let on. We will be brought to the end of the rope many times and not immediately know what to do. Let both the joy of achievement and the embarrassment of error and confusion - and all the ground in between - be part of your leadership conversation. No more positive spins, no more posturing to look brilliant. No more thinking of those who struggle as weak.
- Bring spiritually into the leadership conversation
We hunger to know who and what we are. We hope for the resilience and strength to hang on during tough transitions. Within each of us is a grounded place of rest, a sacred centre where the answers to our challenges reside.
Ask your young leaders about their experience and strategies when they're at their wits end. To what extent do they acknowledge their own accountability as well as the need to look beyond themselves to a larger power? All development is hastened when spirituality is included in the conversation. Teach people how to look fearlessly at their lives, work and leadership so as to tease out the simple tune that is theirs alone to embody. Our organisations and world need this kind of development to take place.
No comments:
Post a Comment