Four steps to building your leadership pipeline

The warning signs: A checklist

• Are we in an infinite loop of replacement planning, with the same high-potential candidates cropping up again and again in succession discussions?
• Does high-value talent rise linearly through the ranks of specific functions or geographies, without systematic movement into key, strategic positions?
• Are we consistently recruiting our senior executive talent from outside the organization?
• Do we put off succession planning until we are actively facing transition or transformation challenges?

Four steps to progressing talent

1. Define

Start by articulating your talent strategy: the leadership and organizational capabilities that the organization needs to meet its strategic goals. This will help pinpoint the kinds of leaders you will need to unlock new value and drive future success. Map your strategic goals to the organizational capabilities that will deliver those goals. From here, work to identify the specific leadership proficiencies that underscore those organizational capabilities.

2. Assess

Identifying high-potential talent for your leadership pipeline and perhaps the C-suite is contingent on assessing that talent effectively. You need to know whether potential capabilities match both current and future leadership requirements. Knowing this will help you determine whether you can build that leadership talent in situ or whether you may need to buy it into the organization.

3. Develop

You next need to enact the right measures and interventions to accelerate the progression of your leadership talent so that they meet expectations in their future roles. Developing talent takes commitment, time, and effort. Proven tactics include bespoke programs and coaching to accelerate the role-readiness of internal candidates, as well as purposeful functional or geographic rotation within the organization to build exposure and broaden general management capabilities.

4. Transition

The first 90 days or even 12 months can be fraught with stress as new leaders adapt to their new responsibilities and the expectations of the organization, their line managers, and the board. Easing in during this transition period is helped by things like one-on-one coaching with experts, who can help new appointees plan and purposefully calibrate what the business and stakeholders expect. A 360-degree mini-assessment around the six-month mark can also provide valuable feedback on integration and behaviors, empowering new leaders to take corrective measures to avoid derailment and to sustain and drive commitment and motivation.