Developing Leadership Talent Through Multiple Experiences

U.S. companies spend over $14 billion annually to develop leaders, often using one-size-fits-all frameworks that define the skills, behaviors, and competencies that all leaders need in order to be successful. However, no one set of experiences or developmental activities will expand one’s talents to facilitate success in all contexts and in every type of leadership role. For example, leaders who are able to design and implement new technologies require different skills, experiences, and behaviors than leaders in educational institutions who need to focus on cost-cutting and curriculum realignment. Many examples in private, nonprofit, and public-sector organizations demonstrate that the leadership context matters. As such, a wide range of experiences can contribute to the development of leadership skills.

Just having specific experiences, however, does not ensure that ...