Good leaders are an increasingly scarce resource. Good leaders are a decreasingly available resource. Scary!
Through countless rounds of layoffs, early retirement incentives, and corporate reorganizations, middle managers – once the respected coaches and mentors of tomorrow’s leaders – are few and far between. And the ones that remain are so overworked that there’s virtually no time to focus on their leadership development growth. Similarly, seasoned executives now have so much responsibility, and are so far removed from the front line employees, that their ability to coach, mentor, and facilitate other’s development of their leadership competencies has been severely compromised, as well.
So who’s teaching the ‘unwritten rules‘? The lessons to be learned? And the ‘secret success criteria‘ that every new and recently promoted leader needs to know in order to routinely deliver truly game-changing results?
Ten Thousand Per Day!
Sure, that are some in responsible leadership positions who are taking (and making) the time to help the up-and-comers with their leadership development. But not for very much longer. Why? Because Baby Boomers (most of those who are in those responsible leadership positions) are now retiring at the rate of 10,000/day! Ten thousand per DAY!
So why are so many organizations failing to provide their ‘next gen’ leaders with anything more than the most basic of leadership development programs – programs that so often fail to provide the person-centered tutelage that’s really wanted – and needed – to create truly effective leaders?
(What an great opportunity, by the way, for new and developing leaders to invest their own time, effort, and money to develop their leadership skills beyond those of their peers, externally. The future is right there for the taking!)
Why More Leadership Development Is Needed
Capable leadership helps make good things happen sooner; poor leadership derails profitability and undermines employee productivity and morale, even faster.
It’s pretty ironic, actually – those with the power to solve problems, are the ones creating so many of them!
- When leaders don’t work effectively up, down, and across the organization, productivity, timelines, and deliverables suffer
- When leaders don’t think strategically enough about the challenges they’re facing, weaker decision-making becomes the norm
- When leaders can’t adequately manage the initiatives they’re responsible for, profits and customer satisfaction plummet
- When leaders fail take full responsibility for their impact, accountability across the organization becomes seriously diluted
Take a look at these ghastly leadership development related statistics:
Maybe We Should Talk?