Unlocking leadership potential in turbulent times
In turbulent times like
these, developing leaders truly matters – yet more than half of executives we
talk to say their leadership development initiatives fail. What does it take to
unlock an organization’s leadership potential?
The four core beliefs associated
with improving leadership across an organization include focusing on the shifts
that matter, linked to value; engaging a critical mass of pivotal influencers
across the organization; architecting programs to maximize behavioral change;
and embedding and measuring the change.
The next question: How do you make
this happen in practice?
The approach we favor is based on
more than 100 leadership development interventions annually as well as the
latest research. It centers on the key outputs typical for each of four phases
– and (you should know) the first three typically take 2-3 years to reach the
entire organization.
1. Diagnose: Determine the gap to where you want to go.
A
leadership model tightly linked to the strategy and context. Prioritize 3-5
“from-to” shifts (behaviors, skills, mindsets) that the leadership program will
trigger. Quantify the leadership chasm at each level of the organization and
assess current leadership development initiatives.
2. Design and develop: Decide what you need to get there.
This
phase involves designing the interventions required for all target groups. From
there, create the leadership development journey by group. This encompasses all
content, defines target participants (who, how much, when), and selects the
initial ones. It also includes developing reinforcing mechanisms (change story,
symbolic actions, system changes) as well as the signed-off business case
(including target impact, work plan, budget and organizational requirements to
deliver the program).
3. Deliver: Moving to action.
this
stage, organizations deliver the leadership development intervention and embed
it in the broader organizational system. Specifically, they deliver the program
across all cohorts, employ modern adult learning principles (field, forum and
coaching), apply system embedment (communication, role modeling, and
reinforcing mechanisms, including inserting the leadership model into all
talent processes), and establish governance and measurement at multiple levels
of the program.
4. Develop: Keeping momentum going.
Organizations
must endeavor to continue evolving the program as the organization changes its
strategy and context. Among other things, they can achieve this by continuously
tracking its impact, reinforcing critical behavioral changes, developing and
applying a clear plan for program graduates (yearly refresh, retention
policies, etc.), and regularly reassessing the organizational leadership
requirements given the context.
An emerging market conglomerate
recently created a new leadership model to support its ongoing transformation.
It brought the leadership model to life through a series of leadership
journeys, culture change initiatives and performance management integration.
The result? More than 6,000 employees were reached, which contributed to an 8
percentage point increase in overall organizational health.
Leadership development
significantly enables organizational performance. But our research indicates that
organizations should avoid following a generic approach that most favor. Too
often, it proves to be piecemeal, narrow, short-lived, and misses objectives
and performance goals. Instead, organizations should embrace a more tailored
and comprehensive approach that develops leadership effectiveness at scale. It
requires effort – but the payback is great.
– by Claudio Feser and Nicolai Nielsen https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-organization-blog/unlocking-leadership-potential-in-turbulent-times?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1805&hlkid=ec1160a48e934c18815ab00a20c8f59b&hctky=1627601&hdpid=6b76d0b5-059b-4328-9e82-d1ca65036aad
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