|
Can
leadership be taught?
Here’s
what we know about how leaders develop:
- Leadership
skills can be learned but some people
have more innate leadership ability than
others
- Leaders
learn most from stretch assignments (50%
of work never done before)
- The
next two most powerful factors in leadership
development are coaches
and mentors
- Developing
and feeding a leader’s network is
critical to their success
- Leaders
are the best people to teach leaders
- What
derails leaders more than anything else
is a lack of interpersonal skills
- We
are discovering that there are different
types of leaders and they need to be combined
in different ways to make up high-performance
leadership teams
top
It
sounds like you specialize in leadership
assessment and development. Do you consult
in any other areas?
We
also do work with leaders to build their
teams and to implement organization-wide
programs and initiatives.
(1)
Leadership teams: We work
with our clients to create high-performance
leadership teams. These teams monitor their
processes and their results so that they
are positioned for continuous improvement
and the achievement of extraordinary results.
Many client organizations are so large and
complex that the office of the CEO is no
longer executed by a single individual but
by a highly skilled group working in concert.
(2)
Organizational programs/initiatives:
Some of the most powerful work we do is
helping senior leaders develop and implement
organization-wide programs to ensure the
long-term viability of their leadership
talent. Examples include:
- Leadership
development programs
- Succession
management programs/processes
- Leadership
competency models
- Change
management strategies
- Corporate
coaching and mentoring initiatives
- Developing
and retaining female leaders
top
What
is the ROI associated with the leadership
development work you do?
It
costs an estimated $500,000 to replace a
senior level executive. Time and time again
we are told that it is as a result of our
one-on-one work with leaders that these
leaders decide to stay with their organization.
At just one client site, JLS consultants
have been responsible for the retention
of 9 high-potential leaders over the last
3 years. That’s over 4 million dollars
in savings. Beyond the retention of key
leaders, the work we do results in bottom-line
gains through:
Performance
improvements: Through our
development planning process, leaders are
encouraged to set stretch goals. These goals
involve ambitious work-related assignments
(e.g., develop a new initiative that will
generate $500,000 in revenue). The achievement
of these goals has a direct impact on the
bottom line of the organization. The leadership
lessons gained enrich the leader forever.
Preventing
organizational “mis-steps”:
Through our one-on-one work with leaders
across an organization, we can help keep
organizations from making crucial errors
such as:
- Slotting
round pegs in square holes - putting a
leader in the wrong job
- Peter
Principle Promotion - promoting an individual
too far or too slowly
- Missing
the diamonds in the rough - overlooking
an individual with high potential
top
What
type of companies do you typically work
with?
We
work with a diverse mix of companies. These
companies span a number of different industries,
from banking and insurance to media and
communications to pharmaceuticals. Most
are made up of highly skilled, knowledge
workers. While many of our clients are large
international firms, we also work with a
number of small locally-based companies.
The common denominator among all of these
companies is their commitment to the development
of their people. Please see our partial
client list and testimonials.
top
How
do you recognize and develop high-potential
leaders?
“High
potentials” are people who possess
the traits of leaders and the beliefs of
leaders. High potentials have characteristics
such as high energy and strong ethical belief
systems. They also generally have a pattern
of high achievement whether it is in the
arena of sports, school, or work. One of
the biggest mistakes that organizations
make in dealing with their high-potential
leaders is to overlook them. We have found
in our programs that when we identify people
as high potentials, they are more likely
to stay with the organization. The challenge
then is to provide them with a series of
experiences that will optimize their learning.
Since these individuals can sustain a steeper
learning curve, they require more attention
to ensure that their growth is being maximized.
Because high potentials are often more vulnerable
to the outside recruiter, we have found
that conscious, well-developed programs
for growing them is one of the best ways
to inoculate them against the inevitable
lures of other companies.
top
How
long do you typically work with a client?
We
pride ourselves on having long-term relationships
with our clients. For example, Dave Jackson,
our founding partner, has been working with
one of our insurance industry clients for
15 years. For us, a short working engagement
is one that lasts a year. We see this as
a strong indication of client satisfaction
with our services and the value and benefits
of what we provide to organizations. It
takes time to develop leaders. We are most
effective when we are able to develop a
full understanding of the culture and the
people that make up an organization. This
allows us to work with the organization
to develop long-lasting systems and processes
that can support the development and succession
of leaders.
top
|
