The AMA Handbook of Leadership

CHAPTER 7

The Leader’s Role in Growing New Leaders

➤ Beverly Kaye

Developing valued employees is particularly critical dur-

ing periods of economic uncertainty. If organizations are

to remain productive during a down cycle, leaders must

commit to engaging and retaining the talent that is need-

ed to simultaneously support the organization for the

present and the future. This not only means the develop-

ment of top leadership bench strength but the recognition

and development of emerging potential leaders as well.

Although leaders will agree on the importance of this

responsibility, they will also complain that they simply

don’t have the time to attend to this function, especially

at the time of this writing, when everyone is forced to do

more with less; and there is a belief that this kind of ini-

tiative takes time, and lots of it.

Although they don’t mean to, leaders often take their top

performers for granted. The focus is on the task at hand

and the factors impacting the organization’s productivity,

with attention to people often taking a backseat. This is a

natural response to tough times; after all, there’s only so

much time in a given day, and those hours have extended

way beyond what they once were.

Sadly, the truth is that when the going is tough there is

even more reason to focus on talent in the organization

and to continually collaborate with employees on their

development and growth. Great leaders know that they

absolutely cannot put the development of the next gener-

ation of leaders on a back burner. This investment in the

future is one that no organization can afford to ignore.

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GROWING NEW LEADERS

Growing new leaders requires a conscious, public effort on the part of an

organization’s top leadership. Leaders set the pace in an organization: the

organization’s leaders have to behave in the same way as they expect every-

one else to behave. As a leader in your own organization, the duty of grow-

ing new leaders is primarily yours.

You can personally participate in the process of growing new leaders in

many different ways, but I have found that four basic skill areas are critical

no matter what approach you take.

Pay Attention

Paying attention is not just hearing words, but really listening to what your

employees have to say. Help your future leaders identify their career values,

work interests, and marketable skills. Enable them to recognize the impor-

tance of taking the long view of their careers, and create an open and accept-

ing climate for them to discuss any concerns they may have about their paths

to leadership within their organizations. Help your employees understand

and articulate exactly what they want from their careers.

Specifically:

➤ Encourage your employees to talk about themselves.

➤ Listen to the results of your employees’ self-assessments.

➤ Ask questions to clarify employees’ self-assessments.

➤ Give ideas on resources for further exploration.

Talk Straight

As Ken Blanchard once put it, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

1

Make a point of providing regular and candid feedback to your employees

about their performance and how others perceive them within the organiza-

tion. Be clear about what it will take for them to progress in the organization

and for them to grow as leaders. Spell out expectations and standards, and

point out the relationship between their performance and their future

prospects with the organization. Make specific suggestions for how they can

improve their performance and reputation.

76 Part Two Developing People

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