Stephen H Baum Leadership

What would it take to have a “farm system” of future leaders getting better and better?

BACKGROUND

A fellow coach and I have each spent time with executives in charge of “talent management” in different enterprises.

Comparing notes, we found that these executives are proud of the recruiting and assessment they have accomplished but struggling with development.

Too few of the bench of potential parent and division CEO successors show trajectories of significant and timely leadership growth.  

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS FOR GROWTH

Not much has changed over time in the essentials:

• Experience – “shaping experiences” which develop a range of attributes to mastery (on this subject see my own book per URL below the text)
• Feedback – an unvarnished mirror for leaders to see how they are showing up in real life situations, how they affect others, the wisdom and consistency of their decision
• Sounding boards – a safe person with whom to test business decisions, interpersonal challenges and life challenge

These are hard to come by in any work situation, especially in a large organization. Why?

THE SITUATION

Internal 360s are often of little value. Third party 360s may be better, but often do not weigh culture and relationships correctly.

Mentors within a company may have wisdom, the ability to increase the odds of a career opportunity and even the mentee’s back, but often lack the ability to give great feedback or hold up the mirror or tailor the target opportunity for development as well as advancement.

Shaping experiences may be either rarely available or without guidance for interpreting and maximizing the opportunity. 

Depending on the culture, shaping experiences, feedback and sounding boards may be more limited for women and other segments.

ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIONS

• Mentors with mentoring training
• Leadership coaches with business or industry experience
• Peer advisory boards (see Vistage website below)
• Leadership Development Workshops
• Developmental/competency based job rotation/career path
• Two-hat assignments
• Encouragement of participation in not-for-profit roles
• Anonymous third party surveys
• Third party feedback
• Encouragement and assistance of personal board of directors

Sites worth visiting:

1. what made jack welch JACK WELCH (shaping experiences for 30 leaders)

http://http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B012YT2RAU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464548906&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=stephen+h+baum+how+jack+welch+became+JACK+WELCH&condition=new

2. Best membership organization for CEO Peer Advisory, C-Suite Peer Advisory

http://vistage.com

That’s just my view. What’s yours?