"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best
time is today."
- African proverb
The process of applying relevant leadership development goals too
often gets lost or decoupled from a company's performance
management system. In some organizations, leadership development
goals are seen as lofty, long-term efforts that operate in some
strange parallel universe to the organizations immediate business
needs. Some leadership development providers promote
confidentiality and legal firewalls to points that create virtual
umbilical cords between the coaches and participants versus the
company they are purportedly serving. The goals and development
become so private that the individual's development goals are
treated as if they were kryptonite and only available on a
need-to-know basis.
Dedicated leadership development centers, university programs,
corporate universities, leadership literature, online courses,
consultants, and coaches are abundant. Yet have you ever wondered
why, despite a plethora of resources, embedding meaningful
leadership development goals into a performance management system
remains such a challenge?
Some leadership development models are extremely well thought out.
Some lack concrete methods to actually embed leadership development
goals into a firm's performance management system.
The model offered below is designed to promote a framework to
filter relevant external and internal development opportunities for
you, regardless of your external leadership development providers.
More importantly, it provides a thought process that any supervisor
or organization can use to launch develop talent, high-potential or
otherwise.
The model focuses on exploring four corners of the development
opportunity universe: internal, external, informal, and formal.
Internal and informal
These include any relevant informal and internal value-added
learning experiences within the organization. This can include a
variety of initiatives, usually within the control of the immediate
supervisor:
- leading meetings and managing the department during
supervisor's absence
- providing back-up coverage as needed for other absences of
immediate supervisor
- leading or participating in informal projects and initiatives
- troubleshooting and resolving situations requiring
interdepartment or intra-department action
- giving or receiving mentoring
- reading relevant books, viewing videos, and reviewing other
professional literature
- building cross-functional or departmental interpersonal
relationships.
Internal and formal
When carefully thought out, this area may yield the most
developmental gold. It includes genuine and visible assignments
that create the conditions and value-added projects or initiatives
for leadership development to emerge:
- receiving special in-place developmental assignments; this
means creating learning
experiences without changing jobs:
- challenge-driven assignments, that is, stretch assignments to
train and test performance capability
- new initiatives and cross-functional projects
- opportunities to lead change or troubleshoot legacy problem
situations
- business intelligence or product research
- a broadening role in and beyond immediate function
- participation in organizational forums and groups beyond the
individual's immediate scope of responsibility
- representing their department or business function in client
meetings.
- receiving competency-driven assignments (pointed toward
specific development areas)
that require using specific skills:
- negotiating
- problem solving
- decision making
- coaching and training others.
- receiving special delegation of authority for pointed
responsibilities during absence of the supervisor
- receiving 360-degree assessments, utilizing internal or
external coaches (optional or mandatory depending on individual's
and organization's needs)
- attending internal corporate university and other training
programs.
External and informal
The heart of this area is awareness that certain types of informal
professional exposure can promote another dimension for
development. Relevant informal initiatives or assignments external
to the organization may include:
- attending professional conferences and workshops
- pursuing professional peer networking beyond the immediate
organization
- gaining greater exposure to customers, clients, vendors, and
regulators.
External and formal
Too often, this corner of the developmental universe is perceived
as being expensive, this need not always be true. This area
includes participation in formal leadership development programs,
leadership courses, and degree programs. Universities, leadership
centers, and other institutions offer a wide range or
opportunities.
One warning: When supervisors begin to genuinely embed concrete
leadership development opportunities in their performance
management system, they sometimes fall prey to the "kid in a candy
store" syndrome. That is, they go overboard with development
activities, and they become too much of a good thing. It is wise to
factor in the following considerations when identifying
developmental objectives:
- Pacing. Avoid including too many development
projects and opportunities at the same time. Select at least one or
two meaningful, value-added developmental initiatives for the
individual.
- Timing. Think about the best sequence of projects
and opportunities in the coming year. They need not all be
accomplished in just one year.
- Your specific business situation. Developmental
activities will depend upon your specific circumstances and
business needs. Think about both the level of urgency and
importance regarding your immediate business needs and backup
talent needs.
Steve Rue heads the learning and development group at Western Asset
Management in Pasadena, California. He's been a practitioner in
leadership development and competency-based training in the United
States, Europe, and the Far East. Rue has worked in the high-tech
manufacturing, financial services, and construction industries for
more than 25 years; steve.rue@westernasset.com.
2011 ASTD, Alexandria, VA. All rights reserved.