The Leadership Pipeline

Abstract

To a certain extent, the most successful people added appropriate skills as they moved up the leadership hierarchy. But that alone didn't account for their success. Walt found that these highly successful individuals also changed their perspective on what was important and what they spent their time on as they moved from one leadership position to the next. (Preface x) Some people had skipped leadership passages and were working in positions where they lacked critical skills… (Preface xiii) Unfortunately, many companies today fail to establish leadership as a special job requirement; they also fail to differentiate leadership requirements based on an individual's specific leadership position. Only so much can be learned in the classroom. These individuals aren't given jobs of sufficient complexity and challenge, designed to stretch their skills and broaden their values. (Preface xv) A common organizational mindset is to view jobs as " work to be done " and not as developmental assignments. There is little acknowledgment that different levels of leadership exist and that people need to make skill and value transitions at each level. Relatively few organizations are thinking about the core competencies and experiences necessary to be successful at each level. (4) What all this means is that you need to keep an open, optimistic mind about who might become the right person for a given leadership position. To capitalize on this potential, you need to discern the true work requirements at key leadership levels and what's needed to make the transition from one layer to the next successfully. Matching an individual's potential with a series of requirements is how pipelines are built. (6) …learn to plan the work that needs to be done, select good people to do it, set objectives, hold people accountable for results, and offer feedback. (10) To build effective leadership at all levels, organizations need to identify leadership candidates early, provide them with growth assignments, give them useful feedback, and coach them. …leadership revolves around mastering certain skills and values at each leadership level. (11)