Five ways to develop great leaders
| Pages | 189-191 |
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0099 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Author | Anita Bowness |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Five ways to develop great leaders
Anita Bowness
Anita Bowness is based at
Halogen Software, Ottawa,
Canada.
When an organization’s
culture of leadership
improves, everything
improves. Leaders impact strategy
development and execution, mission
realization, productivity and results.
Leaders also have a far-reaching
impact on the people around them.
According to Gallup’s report entitled
State of the American Manager:
Analytics and Advice for Leaders,
great leaders are proficient in five
areas: they motivate others; assert
themselves to overcome challenges;
build strong relationships; hold
themselves and others accountable
for high performance; and make
informed, unbiased decisions for the
benefit of the greater good (Harter
and Rigoni, 2015).
However, Gallup’s research also
found that only 10 per cent of
employees naturally possess
leadership skills, and 20 per cent
of employees can develop as
leaders if their organization
invested in appropriate
development plans.
What is often missing in the
leadership equation is the
identification and development of
this high-potential leadership talent.
When organizations find the right
employees with the potential to lead
and give them the development they
need, everyone benefits.
Organizations can build their
leadership pipeline and build
competencies needed to lead
people to perform to their best
potential for the good of the
company, others around them and
for themselves.
Here are five ways organizations
can develop exceptional leaders.
1. Distinguish employees with
leadership potential
Human resource professionals can
provide valuable guidance and tools
to help hiring managers understand
and identify the difference between
high potential and high performance
as part of the selection process for
supervisory roles. The CEB outlines
three characteristics high-potential
employees have in common:
aspiration, ability and engagement
(CEB Global).
Organizations should incorporate
leadership skill assessments as part
of performance evaluations or talent
assessments to identify
high-potential employees wherever
they may be in the organization.
When advancement opportunities
become available, make a review of
leadership potential part of the
internal recruiting process before
promoting employees into a
supervisory or management role.
This approach helps to keep harder
to quantify leadership potential in
mind rather than the focus on past
successes or technical skills.
2. Develop new leaders early on
Organizations need to set new
leaders up for success by helping
them acquire and assimilate great
leadership skills early in their new
role. This may seem obvious, but
Strategic commentary
DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0099 VOL. 16 NO. 4 2017, pp. 189-191, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 189
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