One of the most important tasks within your organization is to identify and develop your next generation of talent. I've been thinking a lot about this lately as a client company has grown to the size where it needs to consider succession planning especially for the key roles within the company. Life is short; bad things happen to good people, but your company can be prepared for all exigencies.
So, I am happy to post this book excerpt about 8 indicators of leadership potential from Ram Charan (pictured). He is the coauthor or author of several business books I think are exceptional including Execution (compare prices). Leaders at All Levels (compare prices) is the source of this piece.
In his many years of observing leaders, Ram Charan has noticed:
"a number of signs that a person has high potential for corporate leadership. A wide cognitive 'bandwidth' - the capacity and inclination to see things in a broader context - is an earmark of a CEO who anticipates how changes in the external environment will affect the business or of a marketing vice president who sees how marketing relates to overall company direction."
Other signs of high-potential leaders include integrity, decisiveness, drive, aggression, and setting direction. There are many more indicators of high-potential leaders.
What do you look for when you seek leaders to develop in your organization?
More About Leadership
Image © Ram Charan
Connect with Susan: Newsletter | Forum | Email | RSS | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook