There are a few things in life you just can’t “get†until you experience them. Leadership is one of those things. That’s why your leadership development program needs to have a plan for what to do when a new leader just doesn’t work out.
Leadership development is a sophisticated guessing game
The big leadership development challenge is that leadership is a different kind of work from anything you do as an individual contributor. Candidates who turn into good leaders usually understand that it’s a different game. The same skills and habits that make an individual contributor great may be counterproductive in a leadership job. No matter how good your leadership development program is, selecting first-time leaders is a guess.
Most leadership development programs don’t have a plan B
In most companies, moving into management is a promotion. Champagne corks get popped. Mothers get called. Everyone celebrates.
The cold reality is that some new leaders don’t work out despite all kinds of organizational help. How do you know when enough is enough? How do you know when a new leader will probably not ever be able to do the job no matter how many training and coaching resources you bring to bear? And once you know, what then?
A plan for undoing a bad promotion
Undoing a bad promotion won’t be easy, but leaving an awful leader in place will be worse. Here are some common sense things to include in your leadership development program.
- Develop a process for identifying a promotion that should never have been.
- Define the alternatives for what will happen to the person who was promoted.
- Follow your process with rigorous discipline.
