How to identify future leaders
While many organizations have leaders and generally the best organizations have the best leaders, these leaders have to come from somewhere. Some people say leaders are born and not made, and while there may be an element of truth to that old saying, it is possible to make good leaders into great leaders if the proper steps are taken.
The first step can be one of the most difficult because it requires an organization to identify its future leaders. Some organizations, such as General Electric under Jack Welch as described in his book, "Winning" (2005), are very good at identifying future leaders. So what should a senior manager look for in a possible future leader? While the answers may seem simple, the execution of that identification and the errors that happen along the way provide a path for growth for the manager, the organization and the individuals who are identified as future leaders.
The search for competency and skills
While organizations hire many people, the search for leadership talent is both internal and external. Some of the traits that senior executives look for in leadership talent include planning, productivity, efficiency, communication and accountability. Of these, accountability is one area where a potential leader can move from candidate to ex-employee in very short order. When a leader seeks to place blame on subordinates and makes excuses for failures but always seeks to take the credit for successes, senior executives see through this and will often either remove the offender or place them where they can do no harm while still contributing. This is not to say that the other traits are much less important, rather it addresses the extra importance of accountability.
Of the other traits, the leader needs to be competent in each of these and must be able to get the job done. Similar to the old joke about the operation being successful but the patient died, if the potential leader does all the right things but still fails at getting the job done, it probably isn’t time to move them up in responsibility.
Grooming counts
In this case “grooming” has nothing to do with physical appearance although there are studies that suggest that good looks are beneficial to career success. Rather, it has to do with the mentoring, training and education that an organization invests in with the right person. This will include job rotations and special assignments that will test the candidate. Senior leadership will need to evaluate the candidate to verify that they are indeed what they were thought to be. At GE, Jack Welch graded these as A, B and C level performers. The A level performers were moved up and the C level performers were moved out (Welch, 2005).
This is not to suggest that identification of future leaders is easy. It can be a difficult task and also expensive if the prospective candidate is sent to any number of leadership development and training programs such as those found at Harvard, MIT-Sloan or Duke. Prior to an investment of that level, organizations often task a candidate with leading a special project or even a charity or fundraising event. By putting them outside their normal activities, it is possible to see how well they adapt and perform with an unfamiliar assignment that has its own challenges.
Proving potential
As the pool of candidates is reduced to only the top few best, it is then time to give them the opportunity to succeed or fail. Perhaps the best way is to give them a job with actual leadership, management and profit and loss responsibility. As a young leader in charge of a department, this can be a telling test. Not all will succeed and those that don’t will know more about themselves just as management will know more about them. This may be a make-or-break moment for a developing leader, but if the senior leadership that has guided them to this point has done their job properly there is a high probability of success and thus another great leader in the organization.
References
Welch, J. & S. (2005). Winning. New York: Harper Collins.
