Leadership Talent: Winning The Succession Wars

The need for leadership talent greatly exceeds supply. If economic growth continues at a modest 2 % for the next fifteen years, there would be a need for one-third more senior leaders than there are these days. Who will replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company’s leadership pipeline full?

The need for leadership talent greatly exceeds provide. If financial growth carries on at a modest 2 % for the next 15 years, there could be a need for one-third more senior leaders than you will find today.

Baby boomers have already started to retire. Most large companies will have to scramble to meet gaps in senior leadership talent. Who’ll replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company’s leadership pipeline full?

To make matters worse, the global and more dynamic economy of the 21st century requires executive talent with a more complex skill set:

* Greater technological literacy

* A sophisticated understanding of global marketplaces

* Multicultural fluency

* Relationship savvy, with extensive networks of alliances and stakeholders

* Leadership skills over a delayered, disaggregated and virtual organization

Succession Planning in the 21st Century

In response to these problems, organizations have a refurbished interest in succession planning techniques. While these systems functioned merely as replacement charts in the past, and were HR executives’ function, there are two critical differences these days, putting an emphasis on:

1. Leadership development at all levels (not only senior executives)

2. Responsibility and involvement for leadership development within the work group, with the person’s manager and team members (and no longer an HR function)

Unique Leadership Levels

Most development models fail to take into account leadership requirements at all levels. As a person is promoted from line manager to business manager to functional manager, skills and requirements change.

Companies erroneously focus on leadership traits, styles and technical proficiency. They commit a major mistake when promoting successful people without recognizing required skill set differences at different levels of leadership duties.

The Leadership Pipeline

Hiring gifted people makes sense as a tactic, but not a strategy. Companies need to build leaders, not buy them. Research and experience demonstrate that potential is not fixed.

The more people achieve, the more they learn. Their willingness to deal with new problems increases. To capitalize on potential, companies should define the true work requirements at each crucial leadership level. Succession planning systems should spell out what’s needed to make a successful transition from one layer of leadership duty to the next.

Succession Planning to Fill the Pipeline

The following five-step plan will facilitate succession planning:

1. Tailor a leadership pipeline model to fit your organization’s succession requirements.

2. Clarify standards for performance and potential, in your own language.

3. Document and communicate these requirements throughout the organization.

4. Evaluate succession candidates through a combined potential-performance matrix.

5. Review plans and progress of the entire pipeline frequently and critically.

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