Transform Organization Dev Leaders
Transform Organization Dev Leaders
Transform Organization Dev Leaders
LEADERS,
TRANSFORM
YOUR
ORGANIZATION
2011 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.
DEVELOP YOUR LEADERS,
TRANSFORM YOUR ORGANIZATION
Traditional approaches to leader development arent delivering on their
promise. Theyre too detached from business operations and strategy,
and focus on knowledge and skills to the neglect of values and mindsets.
Here are three ways companies can better prepare their leaders to
sustainably advance their competitive positions.
IF THE RATE OF LEARNING The conventional approach to leader development offers a variety of pro-
IS NOT GREATER THAN grams and developmental events, but theyre often delivered in isolation.
Individual managers may improve their skills, but the impact on business
THE RATE OF CHANGE,
results is often minimal. We frequently see the following imbalances:
YOULL FAIL.
ooCompanies spend money on manager training but struggle to create a
DAVID A. GARVIN,
culture of performance.
C. ROLAND CHRISTENSEN
PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ooOrganizations invest heavily in programs for high potentials yet still hire
ADMINISTRATION, outside talent for most leadership positions.
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
ooCompanies build detailed leadership competency models, but new
strategic initiatives stall.
ooMost
learning happens informally on the job, yet the leadership
development investment is still focused on big events and the classroom.
ooLeadershipdevelopment budgets are under increasing scrutiny,
even as strategies place greater demand on building capability.
Adding to these pressures, corporations worldwide are faced with a widen-
ing gap in their global leadership pipeline. Organizational structures have
flattened, eliminating positions that used to serve as key developmental
H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S P U B L I S H I N G {1 }
steps. Globalization and growth produce a leadership culture that behavior early on can stay with
in emerging markets pose new can drive an organization to win in leaders for years, even decades,
challenges for leaders. And eco- its market. showing up in complaints about
nomic uncertainty continues, rais- leaders who operate below their
ing scrutiny on the investment of Requirements for level or lack strategic thinking.
precious resources in leadership Integrated Leadership Hill warns that her findings held
development. Development not just for managers struggling
To develop the leadership capabili- to make the transition, but also
Beyond Skills Training managers who were once high-
ties across their organizations that HELP LEADERS MASTER
will drive business results, learning CRITICAL MIND SHIFTS
performers but were no longer
leaders and their partners in the growing.
C-suite must take a more holistic Leaders frequently fail to live up to Meanwhile, most leadership devel-
view of how they develop leaders their personal and organizational opment programs still emphasize
and how learning opportunities expectations when taking on new honing new skills and knowledge,
(both formal and informal) inte- rolesor living into existing without sufficient attention to
grate with the organizations stra- onesbecause theyve honed their reframing how a leader should
tegic imperatives. Based on more skills but havent learned to think think about her influence in the
than two decades of working with in new ways. Its a challenge for organization and what it means to
leading organizations to drive busi- new and tenured managers alike, be in a particular leadership role.
ness results through leadership according to research by Harvard Addressing this identity shift in
development, and in partnership Business School professor Linda A. leadership development efforts
with our faculty from Harvard Hill. Shes found that, in the is critical not only for leaders to
Business School and authors from absence of guidance, they continue
successfully make key career tran-
Harvard Business Review, we have to focus on their individual ability
sitions, but also for incumbent lead-
identified three critical elements to get things doneto accomplish
ers to live into their roles more fully.
of an effective and sustainable tasksrather than their broader
leadership development strategy. role in making the team and orga- A major financial company saw
And while each element is neces- nization more effective. The failure the benefits of this approach when
sary, only an integrated approach to make these profound identity it revamped its frontline manage-
that brings the three together will shifts in mindset, conduct, and ment program to accelerate its
leadership pipeline. The new cur- but should. He explains how training and skill-development pro-
riculum provided a framework leadership development should grams focus on developing their
for managers to understand the bring together a balance of know- companies most important capa-
crucial transition toward work- ing (the acquisition of informa- bility. One reason is that most orga-
ing through others and addressed tion), doing (the application nizations assess leaders against
common misconceptions and pit- and practice of new skills), and skills-based competency models,
falls head-on. This message was being (the values, identity, and but these models rarely differ much
reinforced by senior leaders, who purpose that animate leaders). from one firm to another.
shared stories with participants of The tendency is to treat this tril-
Harvard Business Review Press
their own development journeys. ogy as independent variables that
authors Dave Ulrich and Norm
Key insights were translated into can be broken apart, which leads
Smallwood emphasize the need for
action plans and implemented to missed opportunities to really
leaders to focus on the pivotal capa-
with support from the participants impact the way a leader behaves.
bilities that differentiate a company
managers. Framing the experience The process of integrating these
from the competition. Even firms
around mindset shifts brought the activities isnt easy or quick. And
in the same industry can find pow-
concepts home for managers and in both business and corporate
erful ways to tie key skills to their
provided a context for meaningful education, the balance tends to
strategy and culture. For example,
application. The program, which be off, with a strong emphasis on
the leadership development pro-
knowing and doing, which
had been considered unfocused grams at Walmart should look quite
leads to developing leaders who
and lacking in impact, came to different from those at Nordstrom.
are not self-aware and not reach-
be seen as a key strategic lever in
ing their potential. Yet simply recasting a competency
the organization, which directly
model according to strategic pri-
affected the firms ability to attract Beyond Individual orities isnt enough. The impact of
and retain top talent. Development Plans
BUILD PIVOTAL skills developed in isolation on an
As Harvard Business School pro- CAPABILITIES THAT DRIVE organizations strategic challenges
THE BUSINESS
fessor David A. Garvin describes, will be minimal if learning profes-
mastering the shift is a critical In a recent survey conducted by sionals dont design programs to
element that most leader develop- McKinsey & Company, only 33 specifically address the challenges
ment programs dont emphasize percent of respondents said their their firms currently face. Our
H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S P U B L I S H I N G {3 }
Conclusion
Our approach moves beyond a view
STRATEGIC LEADER DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS SHOULD of work and learning as distinct
BUILD A COMMON AND WIDESPREAD UNDERSTANDING activities to an integrated view of
OF THE ORGANIZATIONS VISION AND CULTURE. building leadership performance.
Winning organizations:
HANDBOOK OF LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE
JAY CONGER, HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS, 2010 ooIntegrate learning across the
spectrum from formal to informal
to drive continuous improvement:
Leadership development profes-
sionals cant look at traditional
classroom-based training, learning
work with clients has shown the remain a positive development,
from others, and learning by doing
dramatic outcomes from strategic, the reality of on-the-job learning
as discrete activities. To get the
issue-based programs that cascade falls far short of its promise.
best individual and organizational
through multiple leadership levels
Professor Kurt Fischer from results, they must design processes
and engage leaders in a common
Harvards Graduate School of and activities that integrate all of
strategic conversation and project
Education helps shed some light these over time.
work directly tied to the strategy.
on why this is hard to do. Learning ooBuild in ongoing opportunities
For example, AT&T launched an isnt a simple process whereby peo-
for reflection and application of
award-winning learning program ple move from incompetence to
knowledge. Learning approaches
aligned with its One AT&T stra- mastery in one easy step. Instead,
should be extended to include
tegic initiative following numerous learners go through multiple multiple forms of collaboration and
mergers. In six months, the pro- phases of action and reflection coaching. The ability to learn from
gram reached more than 100,000 where performance actually drops others in a systematic way greatly
frontline, mid-level and senior lead- and then rises again. Complex increases an individuals chances
ers worldwide. It promoted a com- skills simply cannot be learned for success.
mon culture and focused on pivotal without repeated application, and
the level of performance is directly Leadership development is the criti-
capabilities such as innovation, col-
related to the level of support in cal priority in many of todays large,
laboration, and customer centricity.
global organizations. Whether find-
the work environment.
Beyond Formal Training ing and developing talent to lead
INTEGRATE LEARNING An effective approach to on-the- in emerging markets or replacing
INTO WORK PROCESSES job leadership development must
AND ENVIRONMENT
leaders who have transitioned into
guide leaders to master the right retirement, the question remains
skills, provide multiple opportu- the same: What is the best, most
In most organizations, formal nities for application, and offer effective way to develop a sufficient
leadership development and con- an increased level of contextual pipeline of high-quality leaders who
tinuous on-the-job learning expe- support through processes, envi- can help an organization thrive?
riences remain an ad hoc process ronment, and leadership. In their For those learning leaders serious
insufficiently managed and poorly Harvard Business Review article, Is about helping their companies win,
understood. More recently, com- Yours a Learning Organization? a more strategic and integrated
panies have invested in social Harvard Business School profes- approachone that broadens the
media tools with the ambition of sors Amy Edmonson and David traditional view of leadership devel-
individuals sharing, learning, and A. Garvin further define how opment and trainingis an abso-
collaborating more virtually and firms can build learning mecha- lute must. F
just in time. While these tools nisms into everyday work.
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