When I was first promoted to manager, all I knew about leadership was what I saw others doing.
I was lucky to have a brilliant boss who didn't follow the old-school traditional rules, i.e., being hierarchical, having an inflated ego, and trying to have all the answers.
I fumbled along, making mistakes and occasionally getting it right.
So, if you are in the business of identifying and building future leaders - read on. Future leaders are not born; they are developed strategically and deliberately. This blog will explore strategies for identifying and nurturing potential leaders and how leadership coaching can support first-time managers.
Identify Potential Leaders
Look Beyond Performance
While performance is an important indicator, it’s not the only factor to consider. Look for individuals willing to take on new challenges, show resilience in adversity, and care about others. These traits often indicate a potential for leadership roles.
Create Diverse Hiring Teams
Bias in promotion processes related to gender, age, race, and education can result in a homogeneous workforce, hindering creativity and innovation. Ensure hiring teams are diverse to encourage a variety of perspectives and reduce the impact of bias.
Some biases include:
Unconscious Bias: Managers may unknowingly favour candidates who resemble current leaders, overlooking deserving employees.
Implicit Bias: Stereotypes or perceived similarities with decision-makers can influence who is seen as capable of taking on more responsibility.
Unfamiliarity Bias: Internal candidates may be overlooked for external hires due to an unconscious preference for less familiar candidates.
Affinity Bias: The unconscious tendency to favour individuals with similar interests, backgrounds, or experiences with us... promoting mini-me.
Solicit 360 Feedback
Gather feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors to view an individual’s capabilities. This 360-degree feedback can provide insights into how others perceive their leadership potential and areas where they may need development. Include people from different backgrounds, departments, and levels in the leadership identification process to bring varied perspectives and reduce individual biases.
Focus on Skills and Competencies
Evaluate candidates based on specific leadership competencies and skills required for the role rather than subjective factors like personality or cultural fit.
Textio analyzed job performance feedback and identified strong inequity patterns. High-quality feedback leads to faster growth, higher earnings, and quicker employee promotions. The groups receiving the lowest-quality feedback are also consistently underrepresented in corporate leadership.
Women are 11 times more likely than men to report being described as “abrasive” in performance reviews (Textio).
Nurturing Potential Leaders
I had my first leadership training about ten years into my career—when I was a director. The training was underwhelming. It involved two days in a workshop with consultants sharing PowerPoint slides about the difference between a leader and a manager. Think creatively about how you can grow future leaders through longer-term support.
Offer Leadership Coaching for First Time Managers
Leadership coaching is a great way to develop potential leaders at all levels. First-time managers need support in transitioning from individual contributor roles to leadership positions. Coaching can help new leaders tune into strengths and develop soft skills, such as relationship building, listening, delegation, giving and receiving feedback, and performance management.
Provide Growth Assignments
One of the most effective ways to nurture potential leaders is to provide them with challenging assignments that stretch their abilities. These assignments should push them out of their comfort zones and require them to develop new skills and competencies.
Encourage Learning Agility
Potential leaders need a high degree of learning agility. This means they can quickly adapt to new situations, learn from experiences, and apply their knowledge in diverse contexts. Encouraging learning agility can help nurture individuals capable of growing into leadership roles. This means giving people opportunities in a supported way.
Offer Equitable Access to Mentorship
Mentorship can be highly effective in nurturing potential leaders. In the past, underrepresented groups did not have as large of an internal network as those from the majority group. Get creative about how you approach mentoring and design your approach with inclusion in mind. Pair potential leaders with experienced mentors who can provide guidance, share their experiences, and offer support. Mentorship can help potential leaders navigate their career paths and develop the skills needed for leadership roles.
Reverse Mentoring
Consider reverse mentoring, where senior leaders (the mentee) engage with individuals at a more junior level (the mentor). However, ensure reverse mentoring is tied to your diversity, equity and inclusion goals and go in with a good plan (10 Reverse Mentoring Tips).
Conclusion
Identifying and nurturing potential leaders within an organisation is a strategic process that requires deliberate care and attention. Organisations can develop a robust leadership pipeline to drive long-term success by providing challenging assignments and tailored leadership coaching and mentoring.
Remember, nurturing future leaders isn’t just about filling positions; it’s about shaping your organisation's legacy and ensuring its resilience in the face of future challenges.