Give them your time and the guidance they need to live up to their promise.
By: Kristi Hedges | 05/06/2009
The CEO's most important job is to grow the company's people. We need to groom team members for more responsibility, for leadership roles and simply to do a better job day-to-day. We need a strong bench of talent so we're not overly dependent on one person, ourselves included.
This is true in any economic situation. In times like these, however, when companies are cutting back people and resources, it becomes imperative to get the most out of the people we have. Typically, we cut senior people and ask the team member the next level down to step up. But we often fail to give these rising leaders the mentoring necessary to do the job.
This is a major oversight. It's been a mantra in recent columns and I'll say it again--when times are tough, our people need more from us. That's especially true when we ask them to take on more duties, swim in uncharted waters and excel at everything.
Here's what you, as the leader, need to do to make sure your next-level leaders achieve:
1. Make time. We know it's important to have regular meetings with direct reports to give direction and feedback. Yet when we get stretched, it's often the internal meetings we wipe off our schedules first. Plan to increase your time with employees when you ask them to stretch their skills. Meet at least once a week for an hour, and give ad hoc feedback frequently.
2. Foster an environment of feedback. Make it part of your company's culture to give continuous feedback, both positive and negative. If that seems out of reach, at least foster feedback with direct reports and those you mentor. Frame this feedback as a positive: You're giving these people more attention because you see that they have what it takes to succeed. Feedback is the ultimate compliment. It means someone cares about your development.
3. Don't hold back on your plan for someone. If you tell a rising leader that you see unique capabilities in her and have a plan for her growth, it's much more likely that she'll get there. It's the Pygmalion effect at work--the research that people will rise or fall to our expectations. Let your high-potential employees know what is possible for them, and you'll increase their confidence and success rate.
4. Be specific about what you need. This is neither a time to micromanage nor to sit back and see what someone can do. Be clear and specific about what the person needs to do to achieve the goals you've set for her. Lay out the vision and the skills she must develop, and have her repeat back to you what she heard. You want to avoid misunderstandings at all costs. They waste time and take you off track.
5. Match potential leaders with other mentors. Use your reach to find other performers, inside or outside the company, to act as mentors. Modeling others' behavior is one of the best ways we learn, so encourage your people to find role models. Because the CEO often has a strong network, you can be a powerful facilitator in this process.
6. Invest in training or coaching. This is what I do for a living, so I'm biased. I've seen the enormous demand--and results--of leadership development on high-potential professionals. It's much more common, and often more impactful, than corrective coaching. You can contract for a tailored leadership training program, individual executive coaching or a combination of both. There are also countless management training programs to which you can send employees. The Center for Creative Leadership provides some good ones.
As with most things in leadership or life, what's worth doing takes time. If forecasts are correct, the current economic environment isn't going to end soon. We will need our people to stretch and grow.
There may never be a more critical time to focus on developing your bench strength. Do it, and you'll emerge even stronger than you were before the crisis
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