Is bigger necessarily better? Will you be prepared to lead in the future if you simply work your way up to managing areas with a larger scope? Is your desire to manage more people with a bigger budget really setting you up for success tomorrow?
Scott Anthony argues that the focus of current leadership development on more of the same kind of experience is not enough. Giving a potential leader more – more direct reports, more assets to manage, more responsibility – will not give them the skills to successfully navigate what they will encounter in the future. That will only teach them to “master today’s complexity”, but it will not give them the skills they will need for the future.
“[G]iving up-and-comers more responsibility helps them to refine skills they already have, when what they need to do is to develop the capability to flexibly respond to unanticipated challenges.“
The key is to prepare future leaders to be creative, flexible, focused and responsive to change when faced with the “new normal” of ambiguity and uncertainty that will challenge them in the future.
How is your company responding to the need for leaders with the skills to deal with the challenges of uncertainty? How are you preparing yourself?
