Rethinking Leadership Potential and Readiness

Rethinking Leadership Potential and
Readiness
Mexico City April 2018
©Development Dimensions International, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.1

In your organization, which of the following have
you implemented?
A. One or more programs for high-potentials
B. A 9-box (or similar) process for identifying potential
C. A definition of potential across the organization
D. 2 or 3 of the above
E. None of the above

How ready are your organization’s leaders for the
future challenges your business will face?
A. Totally ready – we got this. No concerns.
B. Solid – we expect to see very few gaps in leadership.
C. Mixed – we expect to see some gaps, but not widespread.
D. Shaky – we expect a lot of gaps, and we’re worried.
E. Huddled weeping in a corner – we’re in trouble.

High Potential Programs
The 9-Box
New definitions
of potential
The search for
a few heroes
Tools
Technology
The Promise of Potential
4

% of Organizations with
Sufficient Bench Strength
2011 2014 2017
30%
20%
10%
18%
15%
13%
Over the last decade, while investments
in leadership development have been
steadily increasing, the rate of
leadership readiness has been
steadily decreasing.
DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2014 | 2015
5

About HiPo programs…
5/6HR professionals
are dissatisfied with
their HiPo programs.
(CEB, 2014)
6

Leader Capability Stalled Again
It’s Time to Close the Gaps

More about HiPo programs…
Less effective
when focus is on
replacements for
senior leader and
executive roles
More effective when
focus is on the full
pipeline—from front
line to executive
Those organizations with more
effective programs and better
outcomes have as many as 40%
of their leaders involved in HiPo
programs.
40%
8

High Potential Programs
The 9-Box
New definitions
of potential
The search for
a few heroes
Tools
Technology
HiPo Programs
Useful for a few, but do
not generate enough
bench strength.
Definitions
Important to establish,
but difficult to
adopt language
organization-wide.
The 9-Box
Useful at higher levels of
leadership. Not scalable
to larger audiences.
Focus on only a few individuals Narrow view of potential
False sense of arrival Perceived as exclusive
Promote complacency
Drain energy
9

SO.
Does this mean we should stop doing all
these things?

NO.
But the world has changed, bringing new
challenges and opportunities, and we
must do more to unleash potential.

90% of CEOs believe their companies are facing disruptive change driven by digital technologies. (Deloitte). 50% of Fortune 500
companies from 2006 no longer exist. (EY) 44% of leaders consider their companies more sluggish than agile. (DDI)
Over the last 10-15 years, the business and leadership landscape has changed dramatically, with a profound impact on
people, leaders, and how work gets done. These changes compel companies to think differently about how they grow leaders
and build leadership capability across their organizations.
FORCES OF CHANGE
Digital AND . . .
• Rapidly changing business
models
• Shifting workforce
demographics and employee
expectations
• Hyper-competition driven by
ideas and disruption
• Growing expectations of
transparency and accountability
• Changing global and political
landscape
WORK
Radically
Compressed
Searching for
Impact Outmatched
PEOPLE LEADERS
• Short cycles of iteration
and experimentation over
caution and precision.
• Rapid decision-making
with higher moment-to-
moment risk of failure.
• Roles are more contingent,
virtual, and global.
• Networks of teams
empowered to take action.
• Experience unprecedented
stress and busyness, which
lead to fatigue and short
attention spans.
• Crave meaning and
purpose at work.
• Look to teams rather than
bosses for coaching.
• Expect transparency and
instant access to
information.
• Are in a constant state of
transition.
• Adding more requirements
for already-impossible
leadership roles is foolish.
• Individual impact is
eroding while the need for
transparency and shared
leadership is growing.
• Hierarchy and control at
odds with demands.

Implications
WORK PEOPLE LEADERS
Radically
Compressed
Searching
for Impact
Outmatched
We don’t simply need more leaders, we
need more leadership, from more people,
throughout the entire organization.
13

Too often, high potential programs oppose wide-scale
growth and realization of potential.
But the growth of one group should never oppose
the growth of another…
…because real growth is energizing and contagious…
…if we cultivate the right foundation.
14

Focusing on a few should not blind you to the potential of many!
15

Let’s remember the real objective
FASTER
START
SOONER MORE
LEADERS

A memory test…
Think back to the time
in your career when
you were learning
more rapidly than any
other time
17 ©Development Dimensions International, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.

Acceleration is … ENERGY
18 ©Development Dimensions International, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.18
Fear
Experimentation
Risk
Thrill
Excitement
Anxiety
Possibility
Terror
Exhilaration

19
• Acceleration for the rest of the
organization (outside the talent pool)
• Making Acceleration a business priority.
• Stronger business case for Acceleration.
• Business Drivers & Success Profiles
• The talent review
• Identifying leadership potential
• New innovations in assessment
• Rethinking feedback
• Learning Journeys and solutions that
directly impact business success
• Acceleration in the C-suite
19

Growth can happen quickly …
22
Case 1
In just six months a regional bank achieved
increases of more than 50 percent in its leaders
demonstrating crucial behaviors associated
with coaching, influencing, leading change,
emotional intelligence, and other skills vital to
its culture’s health.
- Leaders Ready Now (2016)
©Development Dimensions International, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.

23
Case 2
A large energy corporation took
only four months to realize a 70 percent
increase in leadership behaviours needed
to execute a major business pivot,
including generating more innovative
solutions, thinking more strategically, and
operating with a more global mind-set.

24
Case 3
In less than two years, a large defence
contractor more than doubled the
availability of ready successors for critical
roles across the entire corporation. Ready
replacements went from 30 percent of all
key positions to more than 70 percent, and
performance of newly promoted leaders
increased as well.

25
We have management’s
support and involvement.
We have a good
competency model in
use organization-
wide.
We have an annual talent
review process and our
executives are very
engaged in it.
We use assessment
for key roles and high
risk scenarios.
We have a wide
array of learning
courses and options
available for our
leaders.
We hold our leaders
accountable for fulfilling
their roles in the process.
GOODNot Good Enough

Our senior management
team has become
competitive about
making Acceleration
happen.
The business
relevance and
precision of our
leadership model
makes it invaluable to
our leaders.
We teach our leaders how
to be shrewd and
accurate in reviewing
talent and identifying
potential.
We have a nearly-
unhealthy addiction
to objective talent
data and feedback.
We ignite the
application and
practice of the
leadership approaches
our business needs.
We aggressively
manufacture positive
growth tension.
GREAT

• Simplify - focus on the top few
leadership priorities.
• Size the gap - build a more
powerful business case.
• Build a dashboard to track growth.
• Optimize the CEO’s and senior
team’s roles and accountabilities.
Our senior management team has
become competitive about making
Acceleration happen.
Acceleration Imperatives
27

It’s Time for Teams in Leadership
The Power of a Shared Leader Perspective
> How Senior Leadership
Teams Are Stronger with
a Shared Perspective

Outcomes
• Lack of alignment and consensus about how to
address leadership gaps organization-wide
• Inability to enact significant change to existing
systems/processes – incremental changes only
• Recognition of “good ideas” and desired
approach, with no business case for action
• No known progress against readiness gaps
Acceleration Solution
• Conduct cross-business evaluation of
leadership and succession practices
• Experiment with assessment for some
mid-management audiences
• Align competencies across businesses
• Provide formal learning alternatives for
select audiences organization-wide
• Seek special assignments for key players
• Numerous, fragmented efforts involving
multiple partners/vendors across
businesses and groups
Why Acceleration?
• CEO concern about leadership
• Aggressive customer-focused initiatives
• Lack of insight into leadership capability
• Anticipation of major leadership gaps
Business Situation
• Large, multi-business conglomerate
• Growth through acquisition
• Plummeting customer loyalty and service
• Brand erosion and loss of market share
Media &
Technology

Cyber Security
and Defense
Business Situation
• Industry leader; steady performer
• Geopolitical uncertainty and change
• Compliance and measurement culture
• Strategy: Innovation; Speed to Market
Why Acceleration?
• Severe lack of bench strength
• Legacy high-performers struggling in
changing environment
• Overly-high rate of external hires
(70%+)
• Aggressive multi-level assessment and
development process
• In-depth feedback and development
planning
• Strategic Talent Review added to
quarterly talent review discussions
• Many leaders channelled to unique
roles, assignments, or experiences
• Learning journeys for cadres of
leaders
• Disciplined tracking and management
of development progress
Outcomes
• In less than 2 years:
– 70% external hire rate reduced to 30%
– “Ready Now” leaders for 80% of key roles
– Better performance among promoted leaders
• Flaws found in identification process
• Senior management highly competitive about growth
• Development program received industry award

• Put simple, business-
relevant terms in place to
convey the top leadership
priorities.
• Supply leaders with precise
guidance on how to build skill.
• Mark the hazards across the
entire pipeline by clarifying
transitional challenges.
The business relevance and
precision of our leadership model
makes it invaluable to our leaders.
31

• Put simple, business-
relevant terms in place to
convey the top leadership
priorities.
• Supply leaders with precise
guidance on how to build
skill.
• Mark the hazards across the
entire pipeline by clarifying
transitional challenges.
We teach our leaders how to be
shrewd and accurate in
reviewing talent and identifying
potential
32

DDI’s approach moves beyond current high-potential approaches
by taking a holistic view of potential that goes far beyond simply
identifying leadership potential among individuals.
Instead, we aim to surface, activate, and accelerate potential
in individuals, within teams, and across the full force of the
organization.
SURFACE
ACTIVATE
ACCELERATE
Our Approach

• Use the most predictive
approaches to make better
promotional and development
decisions.
• Capitalize on new, more scalable
methods to assess more leaders
• Use assessment data to gauge
risks against future scenarios
• Pinpoint development that will have
the highest ROI
We have a nearly-unhealthy addiction
to objective talent data and feedback.
34

• Scale the learning solution to
the size of the growth target
(more growth, more learning)
• Customize the learning
process down to the person
• Build the entire learning
journey
• Apply, Apply, Apply
We ignite the application and
practice of the leadership
approaches our business needs
35

• Assault the organization’s
mindset
• Keep score of
Acceleration
• Communicate progress
against Acceleration goals
• Learn together – co-own
Acceleration
We aggressively manufacture
positive growth tension
36

Business Situation
• High velocity, competitive environment
• Rapid growth, but many disrupters
• Strategy: Engage the workforce in rapid
innovation and customer focus
Why Acceleration?
• Inexperienced workforce
• Lack of seasoned leadership judgment
and cross-functional insight
• Insufficient leadership to support growth
• “Braveheart” program chartered by senior
management team
• Anyone eligible; participation temporary
• Participants chosen based on interest/
motivation, and leadership potential
• Participants assigned to teams led by
senior executives that were deployed to
address a specific business dilemma
• Tremendous urgency and impact
• Teams requested formal learning,
coaching, etc., based on need/relevance
Outcomes
• High involvement and engagement
• Positive impact on business dilemmas, although
some mixed results as well
• Rapid exposure to unknown parts of the
business and organization
• Challenges in determining capability/readiness
of participants after program participation
Technology
WEAK GOOD GREAT

Secret …
You don’t have to be great at everything to be successful.

Enter through any door.
39
ACCELERATION

Thank you!
Questions?

Rethinking Leadership Potential and Readiness

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