Amgen

The Leadership Development Challenge 

The best leaders are easily recognizable. Trust, listening, understanding, encouragement, vision, motivation, emotional intelligence and agility are attributes that come to mind when describing great leaders.

Interestingly, attributes such as a high IQ, an advanced degree or deep technical expertise rarely appear on the best leader list. Yes, these qualities can be useful, depending on the business, function or organization, but they are not what makes the best leaders effective. Case in point-one of the most admired and respected leaders I’ve ever met graduated from technical college.

Yet, many organizations promote individual contributors to leadership roles because they excel in their current role. The expectations are that they will translate the qualities that made them successful as an individual contributor-drive, expertise, dedication-to success in leadership.

In practice these very qualities can become impediments. New leaders may try to create replicas of themselves, attempt to micromanage team members or struggle because they miss the hands on the work they previously enjoyed. Smart, proficient high performers are accustomed to and expect recognition and success. I’ve seen talented individuals quit 6 months into a leadership role when that success becomes harder to achieve. It’s a preventable waste of talent, time and resources.

For leaders, HR business partners and leadership development professionals, this creates an important challenge. How do we engage high performers, prepare them for what will be different and help them make the shift from high performer to high-performing leader?

1. Set Expectations for a Different Kind of Success

Set the stage for the journey new leaders are embarking upon. One powerful way to do that is through the presence and involvement of senior leaders throughout their development. In my experience, C-suite leaders enjoy sharing what they have learned. Developing talent is a key component of their role and new leaders value the opportunity to hear from and connect with them. Whether the engagement takes the form of informal networking, formal presentations, leadership panels or meet-and-greets, it helps make the leadership journey real. Briefing senior leaders carefully on the objectives and topics is, of course, mission critical.

“Leadership success is no longer defined solely by what leaders personally deliver, but increasingly by the performance they empower in others.”

High performers are accustomed to measurement. They want to know what success looks like and demonstrate that they can achieve it. Create clear performance expectations through observable KPIs aligned with development milestones. We can also lean into their appetite for challenge and recognition by creating opportunities to present, lead and demonstrate what they are learning.

The important shift is to help them recognize that their success is no longer defined solely by what they personally deliver, but increasingly by the performance they empower in others.

2. Build Self-Awareness before Building Skills

Harness high performer curiosity and drive that made these individuals high performers in the first place.

Use surveys, questionnaires and guided discussions that raise awareness of where they are, personally, at this point in their leadership journey and their leadership goals. 360-degree feedback can deepen that awareness by helping new leaders understand something they may not have considered before: how other people experience their leadership.

Then provide the appropriate level of direction and support as they navigate through the gap toward achieving their leadership goals.

Stress that this is not about abandoning the habits that made them successful in the past, but identifying which strengths they can carry forward and which may no longer serve them in their new role. 

3. Create a Safe Place to Practice Leadership

High performers are used to being good at what they do. Becoming a leader puts them back into the uncomfortable position of being a learner.

Acknowledge their knowledge and expertise, creating a climate where it’s safe to experiment. AI-enabled leadership and coaching scenarios, for example, can provide a safe, private space to practice difficult conversations, receive immediate feedback and try again.

At the same time, ensure there is clarity on what good looks like and real-life scenarios that are relevant and directly applicable to their context, giving them opportunity to practice new behaviors and observe results.

Small group learning can be particularly powerful. Assign participants a leadership role in small group learning. Then debrief not simply on whether they completed the task successfully, but on what they did to create the conditions for other people to perform. Help them translate that experience directly back to leading their teams.

The Human Advantage

Much has been written about the impact of AI on our working world and personal lives. Most organizations will have access to similar technology platforms and agents. Knowledge itself will become easier to access and, in many cases, will become commoditized.

Rather than diminishing the importance of leadership, I believe this shines a brighter spotlight upon the role.

The distinctly human role of the leader, creating structure and clarity, providing meaning, building trust, developing people and empowering them to perform, becomes even more important.

For HR and learning professionals, our opportunity is not simply to identify the best performers and teach them leadership skills. It is to design the transition from doing great work themselves to creating the conditions in which other people can do great work.

That may ultimately be one of the most important capabilities we can build.