Triage was developed as a way to help medical staff deliver services more effectively by sorting injured people into three groups. One group would do well even if they didn’t get immediate care. Another group would do poorly, no matter what care they received. And a third group was made up of those who would get the maximum benefit from immediate care.
You can use the same concept to determine where to put your scarce leadership development resources. This is about determining the kind of leadership development, rather than the amount of resources needed. Here’s a quick breakdown.
Leadership development for those in leadership positions
A leadership position is one where the person holding it is responsible for the performance of a group. I’d also include people who aspire to those positions. You want these folks to be able to perform a wide variety of leadership tasks every day.
Leadership development for sometime leaders
Some people don’t want to be fulltime leaders but they’ll willingly take temporary positions as interim leaders or as project team leaders. These people need the same communication skills as people in fulltime leadership positions. They also should have skills that will make them more effective at forming teams.
Leadership development for emergent leaders
There are plenty of folks who have no desire to have a leadership position of any kind. They don’t want to do that kind of work. But they do want to step forward and influence the team from time to time. We use the term “emergent leadership” for what they do. Help these people develop skills in when and how to choose their leadership spots and then how to influence the team.
Leadership development is not a one-size-fits all undertaking. Tailor your leadership development efforts to the specific needs of different kinds of leaders.
