Business leadership is not exercised alone. In addition to a person with specific characteristics and skills, strategies are needed to shape and condition it to the needs of each organization. Generally, leadership strategies are molded over the years and are based on the experience of those who carry them out. A leader with ten years of experience is not the same as another with only a few months. It is even different to lead a consolidated multinational than a business that is taking its first steps.

Training also plays a role. Business schools around the world place great emphasis on the need to develop this skill to ensure sound business management and administration. The support for this need is more than reliable: without leaders, organizations would not exist.

There are many leaders, but not all with the same degree of effectiveness and influence. The difference between one and the other is in the decisions they make when carrying out their role and in how they relate to their work teams.

According to Gartner’s research on leadership in organizations, 66% of companies invest in programs that aim to identify high-potential employees and help them advance. Only 24% of senior executives at those companies consider the programs they are a success. As if this were not enough, in the world’s largest companies, which employ thousands of executives, 30% of new CEOs are hired from abroad.

But, how can companies avoid this massive waste of talent and create more effective leadership development programs? We leverage insights from Mitch Russo, a business leader, entrepreneur, and coach who led a remarkable impression on the market with his business acumen and leadership role.

Mitch holds an extensive experience building companies from the ground up to generating maximum commercial success. He has founded a company with Anthony Robbins and another with Kevin Harrington.

Mitch also started a company called Timeslips Corporation from his garage with an investment of $5,000. He went on selling the company to Sage plc for a sum of over eight figures. Being twice nominated for Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Mitch remains a Key Opinion Leader on the subject of business leadership and here we will use credible insights from him.

Here are four recommendations for developing leaders in your organization:

Leadership, first recommendation:

Determine the most critical competencies for leadership roles in your organizations. Here are seven competencies that are considered crucial for most executive positions in large companies:

  • Orientation to results
  • Strategic orientation
  • Collaboration and influence
  • Team development
  • Uncertainty management
  • Change management
  • Understanding of the market

Leadership, second recommendation:

Rigorously assessing the potential of aspiring managers or managerial positions, their motivational fit should be verified and carefully classified into four essential characteristics of a leader:

  • Curiosity,
  • Insight,
  • Commitment
  • Determination.

 

Leadership, third recommendation:

Create a growth map that shows the strengths of a person in each of the characteristics; these must be aligned with the competencies required in the roles.

Leadership, the fourth recommendation:

For people of great potential, provide appropriate development opportunities, but that fit their growth maps, as well as guidance and support.

Before an organization can begin to detect the potential of its future managers, it must determine in as much detail as possible the “Leadership Profile” of the organization. It varies from business to business.

Similarly, based on the profile designed, the organization will need to identify the most critical competencies for its core functions in light of its challenges and goals. We suggest rating the level of competency required in each competency for each role on a scale of 1 to 7.

Know the critical competency levels of your leaders or future leaders. Evaluates executives in their mastery of leadership competencies determined based on leadership profile, on a spectrum from 1 (baseline) to 7 (extraordinary).

  • Orientation to results
  • Strategic orientation
  • Collaboration and influence

The next step is to thoroughly assess the current competencies of future leaders and their growth potential. To get the best information from people and your peers, ask open-ended questions and explore. For example, to get an idea of ​​how determined managers are, ask them why something went wrong and how they responded. To assess their competence in organizational capacity building, click for details on the people they have mentored.

With this information, you can now take the critical step: predicting where each executive is likely to be successful.

Accomplishing these steps will allow you to carry out more effective development and succession plans throughout the organization. And it will allow you to have a more significant number of people who can be prepared to develop leadership roles in the future.