Leadership Pipeline, 3rd Edition

9Tips for Fine‐Tuning the Implementation

The previous chapter spelled out some basics of how to implement the Leadership Pipeline. Many companies have implemented it successfully and, without exception, are glad they did. During the process there are many choices for business leaders and HR to make, all of which are influenced by both the size of the company and the state of leadership development. Many of these companies have shared their experiences with us; from their feedback, and our own, we've learned what tends to work and what doesn't. This chapter relays some tips to help implementation go smoothly.

But before we share those tips we'd like to say a few things. First, note that implementation may mean fixing the pipeline you already have. It is highly likely that you already have some version of a leadership pipeline. Some differentiation between layers already exists, certainly for decision‐making, hiring, and spending money.

Second, it can be very helpful to consider how well your established pipeline is serving you. To follow are just a few signs that your leadership pipeline is broken:

• If the specialist/professional population in your organization isn't sure where to look for direction, your leadership pipeline is broken.
• If you are having trouble developing enough leaders, your leadership pipeline is broken.
• If there are bottlenecks where work flow gets stuck, your leadership pipeline is broken.
• If people are quitting due to a lack of engagement or don't feel ...