Leadership Development

Organizational Perspective

Organizations need to create a pipe line of high-potential managers who are ready for advancement to higherlevel positions in different functions. Although some executive positions may be filled from the outside, bringing new ideas and strategies, organizations also want leaders who have a history with the organization and understand its culture and operations. Moreover, advancement opportunities help to retain talented managers. Succession planning, a process that is closely related to leadership development, entails reviewing leadership talent, creating development plans for outstanding managers, anticipating vacancies, and sometimes deliberately creating positions as developmental experiences and promotional opportunities.

The nature of leadership development depends on the type of leader the organization desires. Organizations need to communicate the values that leaders are expected to promulgate (e.g., honesty, integrity, open communication, concern for employees' welfare and career development) and the competencies (skills and knowledge) that leaders need to be effective (e.g., ability to formulate and communicate a clear and compelling vision and strategy). These values and competencies are integrated into the design of leadership development programs as well as the criteria for executive selection and performance evaluation.

Organizations differ in their philosophies of leadership development. Some organizations believe that managers should be given every opportunity to prepare for future opportunities and advancement. Other organizations believe that leadership talent is fixed early in one's career, and therefore, young, talented managers need to be identified and given experiences that will help them understand the business. Some organizations believe that leaders need training and development for future career growth, whereas other organizations believe that leaders need to concentrate on improving their current performance, not preparing for an uncertain future. Some organizations develop generalists by moving managers from one function to another and between line and staff positions as they advance, assuming that talented managers can learn the technical aspects of any job and that leaders need broad exposure to all aspects of a business. Other organizations develop specialists by promoting effective managers to higher-level positions within functional areas. Some organizations want transformational leaders who will create innovations and new strategic directions, whereas other organizations want transactional leaders who will concentrate on operational efficiency and effectiveness. Many organizations use a combination of these approaches—for example, providing promotional opportunities within highly specialized fields while also offering career paths that develop generalists.

...