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Brain Circuits
Are your leaders ambidextrous?
Non-linear career paths that deviate from the functional norm in some way can produce leaders who deliver more impact. Consult the checklist to see whether you are promoting people with more diverse experience and greater exposure to different roles and functions, and check out the tips on developing ambidexterity.
Checklist: How ambidextrous are we?
- Is advancement within the organization exclusively based on linear progression through the ranks?
- Are leadership positions occupied by specialists (versus generalists)?
- Do we encourage the development of transferable skills across roles?
- Are we educating line managers on the potential value of career switches?
- Do we accept responsibility if they fail?
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How to develop ambidexterity
Build the process
If you don’t already drive job rotation or mobility, create opportunities that mirror the gig economy. Make it possible for people to work in parallel experiences on top of their normal jobs and ensure that such opportunities are broadcast to talented leaders.
Build the culture
Promote the idea that people can have careers in the organization that take them from marketing to HR to finance to sales, etc, and give public recognition to this kind of career transition so that the workforce sees and understands its value.
Create role models
Ensure that your non-linear talent is visible within the company – otherwise, people will think there’s only one way to progress and assume that functional progression is the only opportunity they have.
Educate
Accelerate understanding across the organization, whether you are a single leader making the case to your manager or building systemic change by creating flexibility and space. Celebrate, explain, and educate your people.
Focus on the long term
Training and developing specialists alone limit the organisation to short-term objectives. As the environment changes and your culture shifts in response, you will have to look outside the organization for the talent to compensate for any shortcomings. Cultivating ambidextrous leaders will equip the organization with people who can shift more organically towards long-term goals and strategy.
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Key learning
Non-linear career paths will give your future leaders the range to drive performance and transformation. Individuals must actively pursue diverse experiences, while organizations need to cultivate these boundary-crossing journeys systematically.
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