One of the more interesting leadership development articles I’ve read recently was Ron Carucci’s HBR article, “A 10-Year Study Reveals What Great Executives Know and Do.” You should read the entire article, but here’s what got my attention. Boldface is mine.
“These seven factors led to our discovery of four recurring patterns that distinguished exceptional executives. What separated the “best of the best†from everyone else is a consistent display of mastery across four highly correlated dimensions, while “good†executives may have only excelled in two or three. Executives who shine across all four of these dimensions achieve the greatest success for themselves and their organizations.”
I naturally started thinking about how this applied to leadership development. If we know four important things to develop, how do we do it? Here are Carucci’s four dimensions along with my thoughts on how they fit into a leadership development program.
Leadership development dimension: Know the whole business.
There are several ways to build this into the program. Job exchanges and job rotations can expose a person to different parts of the business. Participation in cross-functional teams can help.
Leadership development dimension: Make great decisions
Decision making is a skill and the only way to learn it is to make a lot of decisions. Simple systems can make it easier, but basically you learn to make great decisions by making a lot of decisions and refining your skills.
Leadership development dimension: Industry knowledge
The best way I know to achieve this is involvement in trade and professional associations. But it’s got to be more than just attending meetings. You have to learn industry dynamics and develop relationships.
Leadership development dimension: Form deep, trusting relationships
Some people show up having mastered the skills of developing and maintaining deep, strong relationships. For those who don’t coaching seems to me to be the thing that can help the most.
