Employees who are high performers and bring a certain set of admirable qualities and skills to one position or company, can fail miserably in another.  Why? Because their strengths and skills may not be what is most valued or needed to achieve the organization’s particular strategy.

In identifying and developing leaders, begin with the end in mind: the business strategy.   What kind of leadership competencies are most needed to achieve the particular business strategy of the organization?

DDI’s 2008/2009 Global Leadership Forecast survey found that companies with the most effective leadership development were more than twice as likely to align the leadership skills to be developed with business priorities and related leadership competencies than the least effective.  Eighty-one percent of the most effective programs began with the end in mind, compared to 36 percent of the least effective.

Most organizations will develop a strategy and identify business drivers–those challenges that leaders must achieve to drive and successfully realize their goals.  They may even develop a set of generic leadership competencies, or required leadership capabilities they would like to see in their leaders.  All too often, though, the strategy and leadership competencies are unrelated.  Developing leaders, based on a generic list of leadership competencies, may not get you where you need to go.

Effective competencies should be directly linked to the organization’s strategy, operationalizing the capabilities most needed to achieve the objectives.  For example, an entrepreneurial leader at Google who inspires a vision and rallies the troups around a new product line, may not be as successful at a place like Boeing, where she may be charged with creating infrastructure, systems and processes. Each situation requires a different set of leadership competencies.

New strategic directions may demand a revised set of leadership capabilities. A leader who has been highly successful in growing the organization through successful recruitment and  people development, may not enjoy the same success when the organization’s strategy shifts to one of growth by mergers and acquisitions.  The leadership competencies that may then be most prized are strategic thinking, negotiation skills, and leading change.

Each business strategy results in implications for the kind of leaders that will move your organization from here to there.  So, in identifying leaders, start with the business strategy.  Then develop a set of leadership competencies that will help you achieve that particular strategy.  Only then are you ready to inventory your  talent to see who already has demonstrated strengths in those competencies and provide targeted leadership development to build on those strengths.

We know companies are under significant pressure to cut losses, increase revenue, maintain current service levels and stay afloat while the economy takes its own sweet time to recover.  Why not face these pressing challenges head-on by putting your emerging leaders to work on solving these most critical problems?

At the same time you’re enlisting the help of bright minds to work on critical organizational problems, you can simultaneously test their metal.  Providing them with unique opportunities to learn and take on challenging assignments  will accelerate the readiness of these emerging leaders  to take on greater levels of responsibility in the not-so-distant future.

At a time when organizational loyalty has become “oh-so-yesterday,” you’re setting a foundation for your best talent to resist attractive new offers they are likely to receive the moment the economy turns around.  What better retention strategy is there than providing your best talent with opportunities to learn, grow, and work on important, challenging and visible assignments?

If you’re going to give these “star” performers “stretch” assignments, you must also give equal thought to providing them with a support system that will  help ensure their success. Whether it be formal or informal mentors, or internal or external coaches, these emerging leaders stand to benefit from having a “thought partner”  by their side as they navigate these turbulent times.

We hope to keep information here about succession planning, talent management, executive coaching, and a host of other talent management issues.

We welcome your input!

Bev Weise
President
Leadership Talent Solutions