Ambidexterity is a leader’s capacity to create value for the organization by optimizing current capabilities to address existing opportunities and investing in strategies to lay the foundations for future success. The greater your ambidexterity, the better equipped you are to address the complex and dynamic challenges of leadership today.
Ambidexterity scores are impacted very negatively by the length of time you stay in the same company.
This is especially true if you stay in the same role. Even if you’re an outstanding performer in your area, you won’t develop the complex attributes needed for a leadership role today – and over time you will become less suitable for one.
You can improve your ambidexterity score by changing roles within the same organization. This gives you greater experience in different areas, exposes you to diverse challenges, and forces you to work with a wider range of stakeholders.
Moving companies at different intervals in your career does not just stop the rot when it comes to ambidexterity; it increases your score significantly. Our research shows that changing organizations four times produces significant improvements over time, while switching seven times has an even greater positive impact. This benefit accrues each year as you are challenged to learn new skills and navigate different paradigms and experiences.
You need to navigate the experience paradox. Breadth and depth of experience are both important for leadership development – the former builds the confidence, connections, and exposure to different situations that support leadership progression; while the latter develops the complex skills and knowledge that enable leaders to navigate the tricky challenges they will encounter.
Despite the paradox, breadth and depth of experience are not necessarily mutually exclusive: if your current role exposes you to different situations and new challenges, you will continue to acquire leadership ambidexterity. If this is not the case—and remembering that it’s less likely to be true the longer you stay in the same role—it could be time to move on.
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