Companies cannot develop leaders. They create an environment that allows people to use & develop their capacity to do the work.
- Leadership Development can be a good thing.
- Leadership Development can be a bad thing.
You cannot train or expect or force growth or position or authority & accountability onto someone who does not want or is not ready for it OR ask them to exercise leadership in an environment that will not support their work.
It has to Point to getting work done
There is a strong tendency to create organization to provide for career aspirations of people, rather than to provide the necessary roles to get the work done. An unresolved Organization Design issue that is observed as poor quality, excessive bureaucracy, people manipulating the system, silos & turf wars.
Be slow & Process Focused When developing leaders
Developing an environment of Trust Attracting Behaviors will allow everyone to be a leader & rise to their level of capacity within the work. Slowing down will speed up the acceptance & rate of development for the entire company – improving the work, in turn improving the organization.
Be purposeful to develop a process that will achieve results. A process that strengthens the company & the people it supports.
7 Principles of Leadership Development
I think these 7 Principles in no particular order are a great place to start.
- Necessary Skilled-Knowledge
- Selection
- Using Existing Employees as Mentors
- Education for Leadership
- Strategy for Leadership Development
- The Chief Executive
- The Chance to Lead
- Create-Learning Leadership Development
What do you think?
How does your company create an environment for leaders? What will your process look like?