Three Star Leadership

The Apprentice Leader: Who should we promote?

Good leadership development begins with selecting people for their first leadership job so that the odds are good that they will succeed. Here are some pointers.

Promote people who are already engaged. To me, "engaged" means that someone pitches in with energy and attention when there's work to be done. Engaged also means that the person is doing all the things we expect everyone to do such as showing up on time in appropriate attire, cooperating with others, etc.

After that, look for aptitude for the specific work of leadership. People in leadership jobs are responsible for the performance of a group. It's a specific kind of work. If you promote people with the aptitude for the work, they can learn the skills they need.

Promote people who have demonstrated that they can make decisions. People responsible for the work other others have to make decisions routinely.

Promote people who have demonstrated that they will talk to other people about performance and behavior. People responsible for group performance need to do this every day. They need to set expectations, check for understanding and follow up to make sure that the understanding translates into action and performance.

Leaders need to encourage, but they also need to correct and counsel. Not everyone is willing to do this part of the job. It's the cause of many of the slugs that are allowed to continue working and the teams that are dragged down by them.

Promote people who have demonstrated that they're willing to be rewarded based on the performance of their team. One key job of a leader is accomplishing the mission through the group. Not everyone is comfortable with a situation where they're judged based on what other people do.

Watch how your potential new leader acts in a group. If the group succeeds are they willing to point out the contributions of others? Or do they complain that "it's not fair" that they be judged on group performance when their own performance was stellar?

Promote people who have demonstrated that they enjoy helping other people succeed. This is a key part of the leader's job. Do others routinely ask your potential leader for help? Does he or she willingly give it?

Liking to help others is important if you're considering setting up a true apprentice program for leadership in your company. In that sort of environment bosses are expected to take on a mentoring role for the people who work for them.

Promote people who have made a conscious and considered choice to engage in the specific work of leadership. This is very important. Leadership is a specific kind of work. In addition to the important aptitudes, individuals should make a conscious choice to do the job.

Lots of people without aptitude try for leadership positions because they're the only positions in their company that provide a career path with significant opportunities for increased pay, prestige and preferment. This is less likely to happen if you have an alternative career path for individual contributors.

Promoting people who have the aptitude and attitude to succeed as leaders is the first step to putting together a Leadership Apprentice program that develops leaders who will be effective at all levels in your organization. Future CEOs and other senior leaders will come from the pool of people you decide to place in their first leadership position. Choose well.

This article first appeared in the Three Star Leadership Blog.

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