Leadership readiness initiatives aren’t working, so its time to RETHINK what we’ve been doing and focus on the practice of leadership acceleration.
Use these six acceleration imperatives that drive succession success to move your leaders in the direction to being ready now.
2. We all know about the shortages in
leadership and leadership failures,
there’s plenty of data out there
illustrating these shortfalls.
3. Over the last decade, while investments in
leadership development have been steadily
increasing, the rate of leadership
readiness has been steadily decreasing.
10. Burning Questions
We Need to Answer:
• How will we make the shift from having people
who are “not ready,” to having leaders who are
“ready now”?
• How do we accelerate that process?
• Is readiness a state of being? Do we one day arrive?
• Or, is it a discipline of taking on new challenges?
12. At DDI, we use six words, or
ACCELERATION IMPERATIVES,
as guideposts for the journey:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
13. What do these six imperatives mean?
We’re glad you asked—read on.
14. COMMIT: Adopt acceleration as a business imperative.
AIM: Define leadership in the language of business context.
INVEST: Make shrewd investments in leadership Growth.
ASSESS: Assess readiness gaps and give great feedback.
GROW: Make the right development happen.
SUSTAIN: Aggressively manufacture the energy for Growth.
15. COMMIT
• Senior leadership decides—proactively—to make
Acceleration a priority.
• This is more than simply investing in a program.
• Leaders need to treat the growth of talent like sales
growth or cost reduction.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
16. Learn to COMMIT
• Adopt Acceleration as a business imperative!
• Nail the business case. Leave no skeptics.
• Debate leadership needs among top management.
• Pinpoint capacity gaps.
• Own the metrics of success at the top.
• Drive it like it is your core business.
17. AIM
• Knowing what you are looking for means defining
success in context.
• Your business. Your strategy. Your culture. Your context.
• It’s more helpful to aim at a few broad targets.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
18. Learn to AIM
• Define leadership needs simply, clearly
• Focus on the few: Fewer than 5 business priorities
• Don’t let the present blind you to the future
• Mark the hazards—clarify difficult transitions
• Seek to accelerate the whole person (knowledge,
experience, competencies, personal attributes)
19. INVEST
• You must decide how you are going to distribute limited
resources for growth.
• It’s tough for organizations to acknowledge the fact that they
cannot grow everybody at the same rate—but that doesn’t
mean that you can’t grow everybody.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
20. INVEST
You won’t achieve your business needs if you can’t make
some decisions about who will have accelerated development
opportunities at a certain time, and who will not.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
21. INVEST
• If you plan and handle your investment strategy the right
way, you have a much better chance at achieving growth at
the rate your business needs.
• Remember, the highest return comes from investing in
those who have not yet shown value, but show the
potential to do so.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
22. Learn to INVEST
• Become disciplined talent scouts
• Clarify definitions: performance, potential, readiness
• Confront the implications of differential development
• Don’t ask a test to do what a manager can learn to do better
• Facilitate rigorous debate about potential—be behavioral
• Develop a disciplined routine for review
23. ASSESS
• Once you’ve developed your investment strategy you are
ready to assess.
• Create an assessment strategy that scales to the different
needs you have. Fully assess your workforce.
• In the discipline of Acceleration, assessment and feedback
fuel improvements that create growth.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
24. ASSESS
• This imperative is critical to understanding gaps—for both
individuals and various groups within your organization.
• Scaling assessment is based on volume, risk, and the level
of implementation difficulty.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
25. Learn to ASSESS
• Assess readiness gaps and give great feedback
• Assess the whole person
• Scale assessment rigor to level of risk
• Use assessment analytics to plan future business
scenarios
26. Learn to ASSESS
• Don’t ask (or allow) managers to do what assessment
can do better
• Cultivate 3-part Courage:
• Sr. Management: courage to acknowledge that judgment errors happen.
• Leaders: courage to take the journey inward.
• Talent Management: courage to promote structured, accurate assessment.
27. GROW
• Make the right development happen so that growth occurs.
• Development must be scaled to the audience.
• It is essential to have a diverse array of learning solutions to
ensure the right growth happens.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
28. GROW
• For large groups of leaders across the enterprise, a university
approach might work.
• Or, you might implement a learning journey for a cadre of
people preparing for a special application or specific role.
• Perhaps a coach for a leader in transition.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
29. Learn to GROW
• Make the right development happen.
• 10/20/70 is not just a catch-phrase
• ‘Self-driven acceleration’ is an oxymoron—it takes
a village
• Factor in Business, Role, and Self
• Create a journey, not an event
30. Learn to GROW
• Make it matter to the business—to me
• Don’t just learn. Apply. Apply. Apply. (Hint: That produces Growth!)
• Powerful development experiences are
assets—invest wisely
• Don’t neglect the middle (i.e., mid-level leaders)!
31. SUSTAIN
• In times of rapid learning, there is energy. Excitement. Fear.
• Positive learning tension is the energy of Acceleration.
• It can be manufactured with:
– Great communications
– Powerful measurement dashboards that illuminate progress
– Well-aligned accountabilities for all
1
2
3
4
5
6
Commit
Aim
Invest
Assess
Grow
Sustain
I M P E R A T I V E
32. Learn to SUSTAIN
• Create engagement through positive growth tension
• Make growth tension a goal. Measure it.
• Give accountabilities teeth. Measure. Monitor. Reward.
• If failure seems uncomfortably plausible, you’re on the
right track
33. Learn to SUSTAIN
• Where learning is concerned, your shareholders don’t
know what’s good for them (they won’t encourage risk)
• Institutionalize the belief in human growth
42. Ready to Begin Your Leadership Journey?
Take these next steps to succession success:
Visit our website,
www.ddiworld.com/expertise/succession-management
and get in touch at (800) 933-4463 or info@ddiworld.com