Succession planning is beginning to make its way onto the agenda of forward-thinking organisations, and with good reason. As we are seeing the challenges of recruiting and attracting high quality applicants becoming more prevalent, it makes sense to consider how we can support and grow the potential of the emerging leaders who are already in our teams and channel resources in a way the builds their capacity to continue the great work of your leadership team. Not only does this make financial and practical sense for your organisation – it is a demonstration of investing in the strengths and potential of your team and shows a commitment to their individual growth and development.
Organisations can support their emerging leaders in several ways:
1. Mentoring, Coaching and Supervision: Providing emerging leaders with mentors, coaches or supervisors can help them develop skills, better understand themselves and receive guidance on how to navigate the challenges of leadership. Mentors and supervisors can also provide valuable feedback and help emerging leaders identify areas for improvement. Consider building in time for reflection around leadership experiences and skills specifically into your organisation’s supervision sessions, or encourage your team members to seek expert external supervision or support to assist their growth and development.
2. Training and Development: Organisations can make a deliberate decision to grow their emerging leaders by investing in training and development opportunities to help them build their leadership skills and knowledge specifically. Leadership requires a skillset that is often quite different, or more complex than what is required in any other role. The good news is that these skills can be learned, and when built alongside your team member’s dedication and commitment to your organisational values, it can lead to smooth transitions in career progression where your emerging leaders clearly understand that their potential has been recognised and is being invested in. Growth and development opportunities can include participation in emerging leadership training programs, workshops, conferences and being given opportunities to stretch and grow.
3. Stretch Projects: Assigning emerging leaders to challenging projects or tasks that are outside of their comfort zone can help them build their skills and gain valuable experience and can also help them demonstrate their potential as leaders. This should always consider the workload and willingness of the team member. This show of faith in team members can lead to increased confidence and willingness to develop their leadership skills further and ready your passionate team members for temporary secondments or other growth opportunities.
4. Recognition and Feedback: Recognising the contributions of emerging leaders and providing them with regular feedback can help boost their confidence and motivation. This can also help them identify areas where they are excelling, and the areas where they may need to develop their skills and understanding further.
5. Opportunities for Networking: Providing emerging leaders with opportunities to network with other leaders in the organisation or industry can help them build relationships and gain valuable insights and advice. It can also help them (and you) to gain clarity around how they see themselves progressing in the future.
6. Provide Opportunities to Discuss and Plan for Career Progression: Organisations can also provide clear career pathways and opportunities for advancement to emerging leaders. The first step to this is to ensure that there is time and space for team members to talk about and plan their future in the organisation. Adding ‘career development and progression’ to your organisation’s performance reviews or supervision ensures that your team know that they can discuss their hopes and plans forward. This can help your team to see a future with the organisation and have them feel valued, motivated, and excited about developing their leadership skills.
Supporting emerging leaders well requires a strategic, deliberate, and holistic approach that includes good quality supervision and mentoring, training and development opportunities, reward and recognition and the opportunity to be seen and heard in their hopes for the future. Organisations who understand that leadership skills are different to practitioner skills and actively work to bridge that gap set themselves and their teams up for greater success. By providing these opportunities and resources, organisations can help emerging leaders develop their skills and reach their full potential as leaders.
Work Within offers a specialised training program in developing emerging leaders. If you’re serious about succession planning and growing your good people, reach out to discuss the ways Amy can help at amy@workwithin.com.au.
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