According to Josh Bersin, Leadership – if developed in a comprehensive way – endures. A focus on leadership strategydrives enduring business performance. It’s not all about the CEO. Long term business performance comes from leadership culture and careful and continuous development of leadership at all levels. A company’s level of maturity in their leadership development has a greater impact on their long-term business performance than almost all else.
Best Practices High-Performing Organizations Follow
- Leadership development strategy is directly linked to leadership strategy, which in turn is directly linked to business strategy
Build a leadership development program which uniquely trains, supports, and selects people who drive their business’s strategy. By doing this, they build execution into the culture. Operational execution takes place at the mid-level and supervisory level. When these individuals are well aligned, coached, and trained, the business thrives.
- Leaders are developed at all levels
The best companies develop leaders from the bottom up. Senior Executives “serve” the needs of line leaders, like an inverse pyramid. Remember that that execution takes place at the grass roots level.
- Invest in leadership development
The companies that rank top in leadership development maturity invest 30-40% more money in leadership than their peers. And these programs are uniquely multi-faceted and challenging. Companies with top leadership programs, spend almost 35% more per manager on development than others.
- Develop their leadership philosophy
They develop their own unique, research-based leadership model. They take the time to figure out what matters in theirown company. When a new CEO enters a company one of the most important things, they must do is assess the current leadership culture, and then decide how they want it to change. It’s up to the CEO to drive a new culture of teamwork and accountability. Only when that message reaches the troops will the company turn around.
Strategic Leadership Development is championed by Executives, and requires Talent Management integration.
“Look at how you build, develop, and attract leadership!”