The Lindmand Group -
Guiding Principles
The Principles of Leadership Development and The LEADERSHIP ARCHITECT Suite of Integrated Tools
When employees join an organization, they already have a foundation, or enabling attitudes, skills, competencies, and knowledge, which will, in part, determine whether they will ever serve as executives.
The initial appraisal of potential is based upon what they bring to their employer. They have tentatively selected an occupation by their choice of college programs and they have established a pattern of achievement in terms of grades and honors. They have had jobs, and may have served in the military.
They were raised in a values context of family, religion, and politics. They have formed beliefs and attitudes about a variety of topics. They have some form and level of quality of interpersonal skills. They have a style of thinking and problem solving. They are ready to climb the corporate ladder. Assuming they have potential, whether they make it to the top or not will be determined by what the organization does with them.
Building leadership competencies depends upon going through a series of challenging job assignments, which present diversity, adversity, variety and intensity.
The first five to eight years of a leader's career seems to be a critical proving ground for the development of basic skills: understanding the technical aspects of the firm and how the overall business works; the basics of the management job and how it differs from professional work; and the basics of working with others.
The major tests of their leadership typically follow this initial phase. This period is characterized by some grouping of the five major assignments:
1. Starting Something from Scratch
2. Fix It/Turnaround
3. Projects/Task Forces
4. Change in Scope and Scale
5. Line/Staff Switch
It is developmentally enriching to consider interventions in three areas: establishing an assignment sequence that combines variety with complexity of assignments; helping managers confront the basic psychological transitions required by job and level changes; and providing regular feedback to help managers fill out and enrich the basic learning themes.
Making high-potential managers responsible for their own careers can be aided by information on what constitutes success and what their individual needs may be. Realistic expectations on their part depends to some extent on their awareness of developmental opportunities and their likely benefits. When we think of leadership development, we need to focus on the duality of the process. First, we develop individuals and must constantly focus on their specific needs; secondly, this development must take place within the context of the corporate or organizational culture.
