Tag Archive for: talent management

You’re Overlooking the Most Important Leadership Skill of 2025

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Hint: It’s Not Strategy, Vision, or Execution

If you had to bet on the most valuable leadership skill in 2025, what would you choose? Strategic thinking? Data-driven decision-making? Change management? All solid bets—but you’d still be missing the one skill that’s about to define leadership success more than any other: the ability to have tough, trust-building conversations.

Provocative Point: AI is replacing routine decision-making, and strategy is becoming more automated. But the human ability to connect, challenge, and align people toward a vision? That’s irreplaceable. Yet, most leaders still struggle to communicate clearly, deliver feedback effectively, and have the tough conversations that create real alignment.

Solution: Make 2025 the year your leaders become exceptional communicators. Train them not just in the mechanics of giving feedback, but in how to build trust, listen deeply, and communicate in a way that strengthens relationships while driving results. The organizations that prioritize this skill will develop leaders who don’t just execute well—they inspire teams to follow them into any challenge.

From Plateau to Peak: How to Elevate Talent Through Coaching

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Great Leaders Aren’t Born, They’re Coached

Leadership performance gaps are costly, affecting everything from team morale to organizational outcomes. Effective coaching can bridge these gaps, creating leaders who are not only skilled but also attuned to the nuances of impactful management. Achieving lasting improvement, however, goes beyond simple check-ins or basic feedback. High-quality coaching requires a strategic approach that deeply engages leaders in their growth journey.

Start with a Comprehensive Skills and Needs Assessment

An accurate assessment is the foundation for successful coaching. It goes beyond typical feedback, requiring tools that can pinpoint specific areas for growth, from strategic thinking to interpersonal skills. By using methods like 360-degree feedback, leaders gain insights that reveal blind spots they may not otherwise recognize, while also uncovering strengths they can leverage more fully.

Why it matters: For a skills assessment to be effective, it must be carefully tailored, incorporating insights from diverse perspectives. This approach yields a comprehensive picture of each leader’s performance, allowing for a targeted focus on high-impact areas. When conducted thoroughly, these assessments form a clear roadmap for where to begin the coaching journey.

Set Clear, Measurable Goals for Coaching

The value of coaching is magnified when goals are aligned with organizational priorities and structured to be measurable. Short-term goals create momentum, while long-term objectives ensure ongoing development. Both types of goals are crucial for translating a leader’s growth into tangible results within the organization.

Why it matters: Establishing detailed metrics, like behavior-based KPIs, can transform coaching from a conversation into a results-driven initiative. Metrics serve as guideposts, helping leaders focus their efforts on specific behaviors that directly influence their team and business outcomes. Setting these types of goals requires not only an understanding of performance but also a keen awareness of each leader’s unique strengths and challenges, enabling a structured path forward.

Regularly Evaluate Progress and Adapt the Coaching Plan

Leadership coaching is a dynamic process that benefits from regular evaluations. These check-ins provide insight into how well leaders are progressing and allow for real-time adjustments to the coaching plan. By incorporating periodic feedback from the leader’s team, organizations can uncover new insights into how the leader’s development impacts their team.

Why it matters: Data-driven tools, such as behavioral analytics, offer a way to objectively track performance. These tools can reveal growth in areas that are typically hard to measure, like decision-making speed and conflict resolution skills. This continuous feedback loop enables leaders to adapt, maintaining a steady focus on growth even as they tackle the day-to-day challenges of leadership.

The bottom line: Closing the leadership performance gap is part of a strategic talent development process that requires a structured, intentional approach. By starting with a robust assessment, setting concrete goals, and regularly evaluating progress, organizations can elevate their leadership teams to new levels of effectiveness. With the right coaching foundation, leaders don’t just bridge performance gaps—they build the skills that position their teams and organizations for long-term success.

Developing Your Next Generation of Leaders

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5 questions every executive team should be asking themselves

Look around your leadership team. Are you seeing the future? If not, it might be time for a little refresh. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the leaders of tomorrow may not look like the leaders of today. And, no, we’re not just talking about diversity (although that’s an important piece). We’re talking about mindset, adaptability, and that elusive quality: resilience.

1. Identify Your Rising Stars (Before They Burn Out)
You know those high-potential folks in your org who are constantly “doing a little bit extra”? Yeah, the ones who might combust if they don’t take a vacation? They’re your next-gen leaders. But before you start piling on more responsibilities, give them the development opportunities they need to succeed without burning out. Leadership is about more than hard work; it’s about working smart, too.

Question: How do we currently identify high-potential employees, and are we doing enough to ensure their development without overwhelming them?

  • Encourage your management team to conduct regular talent assessments focusing on both performance and potential.
  • Ask managers to track burnout risks by monitoring workload and offering tailored support before it’s too late.
  • Implement succession planning that allows future leaders to shadow more senior roles without adding excessive pressure.

2. Give Them Real Challenges (Not Just Busy Work)
Handing future leaders token assignments is like giving a firefighter a garden hose. It’s cute, but it’s not going to solve anything. If you want them to grow, give them meaty, real-world challenges that test their problem-solving abilities and leadership potential. Sink-or-swim might sound harsh, but in a world of constant disruption, they need to be ready for the deep end.

Question: What significant, high-stakes projects can we hand over to emerging leaders that will stretch their abilities and prepare them for greater responsibility?

  • Assign future leaders critical projects with real impact, allowing them to grow through hands-on experience.
  • Set up mentorship programs where senior leaders guide next-gen leaders through complex problems.
  • Use failure as a learning opportunity by openly discussing the lessons from missteps instead of punishing them.

3. Coaching, Not Micromanaging
Nobody became a great leader by being spoon-fed. Leaders grow through challenge, reflection, and yes, failure. What they don’t grow from is a boss breathing down their necks about every decision. Shift your focus to coaching rather than micromanaging. Help them learn how to think strategically, navigate tricky waters, and make decisions that align with long-term goals.

Question: How can we shift from micromanaging tasks to fostering strategic thinking and decision-making in our up-and-coming leaders?

  • Promote a culture where managers ask powerful questions rather than providing all the answers, helping future leaders think critically.
  • Encourage regular one-on-one coaching sessions focused on growth, feedback, and leadership challenges rather than daily operations.
  • Introduce self-reflection exercises for future leaders to assess their decisions and outcomes, reinforcing autonomy and learning.

4. Encourage Cross-Functional Exposure

If you want a well-rounded leader, you need to throw them into situations where they’re not the expert. Let them sink their teeth into projects outside their usual domain—because real leadership isn’t just about knowing your lane; it’s about driving the whole highway. Cross-functional exposure builds broader strategic thinking and breaks down organizational silos.

Question: How can we create opportunities for our future leaders to work across different departments and gain a broader understanding of the business?

  • Rotate rising stars through key departments so they gain a 360-degree view of the organization’s operations and culture.
  • Assign future leaders to cross-functional task forces or project teams that require them to collaborate beyond their usual scope.
  • Encourage participation in cross-functional strategy discussions, giving them a seat at the table where broader business issues are tackled.

5. Provide Continuous Learning Opportunities

Your future leaders should never stop learning. Invest in their development through ongoing training that goes beyond the basics. Leadership isn’t static, and neither should be their education. Whether it’s executive coaching, leadership programs, or industry conferences, giving them the tools to learn and adapt is non-negotiable.

Question: Are we investing enough in our leaders’ learning and development to keep them at the forefront of emerging industry trends and leadership practices?

  • Create personalized learning plans for future leaders that combine formal training, mentorship, and real-world experience.
  • Offer leadership development programs focused on emerging skills like emotional intelligence, digital transformation, and adaptive leadership.
  • Provide access to external conferences, courses, and networks that broaden their knowledge base and expand their industry insights.

 

These thought-provoking questions can push your management team to take concrete steps toward developing the next generation of leaders, while ensuring rising stars are exposed to broader experiences and continuous learning—critical for their long-term growth and organizational success.

The future isn’t going to wait for your leadership team to catch up. Start building the pipeline today—because that bright-eyed manager you’re half-ignoring? They could be the very one most capable of steering your company through a big transformation before you know it.

Creating a Leadership Philosophy

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Leadership PhilosophyWe often talk about leadership styles and leadership behaviors but don’t often talk about our leadership philosophy. However, it is a critical part of understanding ourselves as a leader.  It is this underlying philosophy that has broad impact on our actions as leaders.  Leadership philosophy is a concept I’ve learned from my colleague Michael Maccoby.

We all have a life philosophy.  Our life philosophy is a way of putting our values together to guide how we behave.  We knowingly or unknowingly live our lives in accordance with this philosophy.  A leadership philosophy integrates our organizational purpose with the practical values and moral reasoning which you believe are essential to achieving that purpose.  It also includes how we define and measure results. Effective leaders are very aware of their leadership philosophy.  They not only communicate their philosophy, they can be trusted to act in accordance with that philosophy.

Think about your leadership philosophy.  What is it and what impact does it have on you, your team and your organization.  Ask the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of our organization?
2. What is my purpose as a leader?
3. Which organizational values support that purpose?
4. How do my personal values align with these organizational values?
5. What ethical and moral reasoning do I expect from myself and my people?  Do we work simply to avoid punishment and gain rewards? Do we operate in terms of what is good for my organization and myself without regard for my impact on others?  Do we function in a way that benefits or does not harm all those who may be impacted by our actions?
6. How do we define results?  Is this consistent with my leadership philosophy?

Once you’ve crafted your philosophy, validate that it is meaningful to you. Read it several times over the next two weeks.  Does it resonate with you?  If someone asked you, would you stand behind its representation of you to others?

 

Worried about retention? Some news about millennials

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Millennials and careers

 A recent article from Reuters provided some insights into why millennials quit their jobs and just how many of them plan on doing so in the next 2-4 years. First, the numbers:

  • Sixty percent of millennials, those people who are 22-32, have changed jobs 1-4 times in the past 5 years, according to State Street Global Advisors. Could be some of the younger millennials in the survey population were moving from part-time or ‘I needed a job’ jobs, but that numbers should give you pause.
  • If given the choice, 44% would leave their job in the next two years and 66% expect to change their employers in the next 4 years. Not would if they could. They expect to change.

Why? As we’ve all heard, millennials want work that aligns with their values. Old news.  What was interesting is how important it is even to those who are what they call ‘senior millennials’ — those with high-level job titles. Sixty-one percent of them say they’ve chosen not to undertake a task at work because it conflicts with their values. So much for work is not personal.

However, this article points out that isn’t the whole story. Turns out money does matter. A woman quoted in the article only chose to change to a career she thought she would like better when she figured out it was lucrative in the market where she lives. It also notes how often millennials are developing additional revenue streams outside of their jobs. Sounds pretty entrepreneurial to me.

What can you do to keep your millennials around.  Most likely, they will leave you at some point but you can probably extend that timeframe by focusing on three things:
  • Know what your millennials, as individuals, value and integrate that into their work.
  • Give them the opportunity to generate business ideas and be entrepreneurial. Their doing it on the side.  Why not as part of their regular job?
  • Don’t think that all of this takes the place of money.  They want financial rewards for their effort.  What may be different from others is that the rewards need to be aligned with their values, how they are making a difference and the ability to be entrepreneurial at work.
Cheers!
Edith

Building an Accountability Culture

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Building an Accountability CultureOne of the most difficult skills for many leaders to master is to artfully and effectively build accountability into the culture. They need to walk the line between creating a punitive culture, where people are afraid to be innovative, take responsibility or drive change because of the fear of failure and its ramifications. On the other extreme is the leader who wants to create such a feel-good culture that they let things slide and pretty soon people aren’t clear what, if anything is important and they adopt Scarlett O’Hara’s approach to dealing with adversity:  “Tomorrow is another day.”

In an accountability culture, each person takes ownership for achieving results.

Too often we think about accountability only when something goes wrong. Until then, we figure that people know what needs to get done and will do it. It’s what I call a rear view mirror exercise. A more powerful approach is to be mindful of creating a culture of accountability by using the ACAR model.

  • Align: To create a culture of accountability, you need to start by aligning goals, people and process. The first step is to ensure that individual or team goals are aligned with the larger corporate, group and department goals. People will give more importance to what they are doing when they understand how what they do fits into the bigger picture. Even better, explain the larger goals to them and then engage them in setting their own goals. Second, ask yourself if the work people are doing is aligned with their strengths — their talent– and with the goals you are asking them to achieve? The ability to use our strengths at work makes it much more likely that we will complete tasks and create results. Third, align the goal with what the individual finds motivating. When an individual is able to see how the work they are doing helps fulfill a personal need or aspiration, they will own the work. Finally, do we have enough processes in place for someone to achieve what needs to get done? If not, have you given them the capacity to create it?
  • Communicate Expectations: Do your expectations focus on activity or results? Am I accountable for the activities I engage in or the results they produce? Often it’s both. For example, we may have expectations for how someone works with other members of the team in order to achieve their results. Where accountability falls apart is when we focus solely on one or the other. We’ll reward the person who achieves the best results even though everyone knows their behavior flies in the face of what we say we value, leading to a toxic culture. Other times, we are so focused on people getting the activities right that we will give them an “A for effort”. We lose sight of the ultimate goal because we are so focused on the process that we create a situation where nothing seems to get done. Communicate what your expectations are — both behavior and results.
  • Acknowledge. We usually think of holding people accountable when someone is not making the deadline, when quality isn’t what it should be or when results aren’t achieved. Often, we are looking for where to assign blame. Turn that thinking on its head. Focus on those people who are doing what they are supposed to do and achieving results. Recognize them, point it out to others. Watch the impact it has. People will recognize that achieving results is noticed and makes a difference.
  • Redirect and Re-engage. Even after aligning, communicating and acknowledging, there will still be performance issues from time to time. You’ll still need to have the hard conversations. You will need to tell people that part of their performance is not where it needs to be. You will need to share your disappointment or describe the impact it had on the team. Most importantly, you then need to redirect and re-engage. You need to engage the individual in a conversation about how to improve performance. You need to recheck the alignment, the communication and the acknowledgement. The conversation should build a partnership in which the individual takes ownership of the work that needs to be done.

 

Talent shortage? Afraid of power? This week’s random musings

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Here are a few things I’m thinking about this week. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Talent shortage continues. Manpower recently completed a survey of 41,700 hiring managers across 42 countries. 38% reported they are unable to find the talent they need. That’s the highest percentage in this annual survey since 2007. The top 10 hardest jobs to fill include sales reps, engineers, IT staff, accounting and finance, and managers/executives. Are you having a tough time finding the talent you need? If so, which jobs are you having the hardest time filling? Click here to see the NBCNews article.

Are we afraid of power? In several of my recent conversations with emerging female executives, many are still expressing concerns about their ability to effectively use their power. They are concerned about delegating appropriately, how they are perceived by emerging male executives, or by the people who work for them, even how to give feedback that gets a difficult message across when need be. If you’re a female leader, have you had similar concerns? If so, how did you deal with it? What advice would you have for women who seem to be afraid of power?

Productivity-boosters. This coming Sunday, November 1st daylight savings comes to an end and lighter mornings and darker evenings remind us that winter will soon be upon us. Remaining productive during the winter months can be a challenge for some.  What are your favorite tricks for boosting your personal productivity? What works like a charm every time?

daylight savings

 

Create a Sustainable Leadership Pipeline: 7 Core Principles

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Leadership Sustainability

Leadership Sustainability

Sustainability is a word that is heard often these days, usually in regards to the environment or development or cultures. As leaders, part of our mission is to create sustainability within our organizations. The talent of our future leaders is critical to our future success. The question is, “how do I create a sustainable pipeline of leaders and manage talent in an ever-changing business and economic environment?”

The business case for top-tier leadership quality is solid. A Corporate Leadership Council 2003 Succession Management Survey showed that top tier leadership organizations are much more likely to outperform their peers in the marketplace, which translates into substantial financial gains. Market capitalization relative to peers was $384 million higher for top-tier leadership organizations compared with a $232 million lower for bottom-tier leadership organizations.

Creating a sustainable pipeline of top-tier leadership needs an integrated, systemic approach to talent management. Current leaders in the organization need to be accountable for creating a talent management culture. Keeping your eye on the talent will allow you to survive, and even thrive, during times of change and come out stronger on the other side.

To create sustainable leadership pipelines, seven core principles make the difference.

The 7 Core Principles

Core Principle #1: Recognize talent management is a core business process with impact on overall business and financial success for the enterprise. Actively engage leadership throughout the organization on an ongoing basis to assure a nimble, functioning and robust process is in place. Create accountabilities for leaders, just as they are for the financial and operational success of the organization.

Core Principle #2: It starts with the business strategy and talent pipelines are developed to support the strategy. Base the pipelines on where the business is currently and also prepare for future scenarios. As Marshall Goldsmith said, “what got you here, won’t get you there.” Leadership needs will vary based on the strategic needs of the organization. The necessary leadership qualities, the identification, development and review of key talent should be linked to the strategy to assure the bench strength meets the organization needs.

Identify linchpin roles to assure you are developing leadership talent for those roles that have significant impact on the organization’s ability to achieve short and long-term results. Look at the drivers of you business – is it sales? Research and development? Manufacturing? How are you creating a sustained talent pipeline in those parts of the business?

Core Principle #3: Measure it and know if it’s making a difference. Sustainability is created by knowing what will create success now and in the future and focusing resources on those areas. Put measures in place to reflect the goals of talent management and the effectiveness of leadership development. As was stated in principle #1, make it a key accountability for the executive team.

Core Principle #4: Identify, develop and talk about leadership talent throughout the organization. The leadership talent conversation should be ongoing among your senior leadership teams. Until they take root in the culture, overt processes should be put in place to cause these conversations to occur. These topics need to be agenda items or the topics of meetings in their entirety.

Create communication mechanisms to ensure a resilient information-sharing process. Intranet- based tools with the ability to allow varying levels of access to critical information are vital. They allow for the dynamic management of the information.

Core Principle #5: The process clearly differentiates leadership talent. All high performers are not high potential. However, high potentials are high performers. Sustainable talent management systems identify the difference.

High potential performers have the capability to continue to take on larger, more complex levels of responsibility and often do it quickly. High potential employees are often voracious learners. They take on new tasks and are able to master them quickly. What they most often need is the ability to gain wisdom; the ability to integrate what they have learned and to apply it in varied settings.

Core Principle #6: Address gaps between strategic needs and current leadership capabilities through focused internal development or recruitment of external resources. In sustainable talent management processes, development comes from a variety of sources – coaching, programs, experiences, new assignments within the organization, mentoring, etc. With the application of each type of development there is clarity about what the individual is supposed to be developing from each experience or assignment. Measure the progress. Frequent conversations about the development experience provide feedback to the organization about the potential leadership talent and to the individual.

To drive integration of talent management into the culture, integrate it with critical processes like selection, performance management, rewards and compensation. At the individual level, let people know where they stand (e.g., A, B, C talent) and the implications. These components can be facilitated through Human Resources, Leadership Development, or consultants. They need to be owned by the executive team and leaders/managers across the organization.

Core Principle #7: Talent and the needs for talent are re-evaluated regularly. Your business changes. So does the talent. Sustainable systems identify and proactively address the dynamics of change and the impact on talent needs.

Performance=14% Leaders, 86% Followers

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High PerformanceI’d like to share a couple of great pieces on leadership philosophy from 2011 that remain as important and relevant today as they did then.

The first one is a Harvard Business School research study which shows that 14% of a firm’s performance is dependent on its leaders, 86% on the ‘followers’.  This statistic is in an I4CP report about the 5-domains of high performance.  Click here to download the report. It’s an easy read and reinforces a great deal of what our philosophy has been for years — performance comes from the combination of consistent, clearly communicated strategies, leadership that is talent- oriented and committed to the right talent working in an effective, strong culture with a strong market-focus.

Another great piece from McKinsey is about the importance of organizational health on performance. The author’s  central message is that focusing on organizational health -the ability of your organization to align, execute, and renew itself faster than your competitors can -is just as important as focusing on the traditional drivers of business performance. Organizational health is about adapting to the present and shaping the future faster and better than the competition. Healthy organizations don’t merely learn to adjust themselves to their current context or to challenges that lie just ahead; they create a capacity to learn and keep changing over time.  To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Looking to Hire? Make the Sale.

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top talentI was asked recently about how to put your company’s best foot forward when hiring in a competitive market. The first thing to think about is why someone would want to work for you.

Recruiting and hiring is a sales process. We usually think that it’s the candidate doing the selling. You and your company need to be selling, too. The best candidates have options so you have to show them why your opportunity is a great one. Show your candidates the WIIFM — what’s in it for me.

Position yourself as a top choice by having the answers to these frequent questions from top performers. They may not always ask them but they are thinking about them.

  • Why would someone want to work here? If you can’t answer this question, how can your possibly attract great people?
  • What’s different about your organization versus where the person is now? How does this opportunity give him more of what he’s looking for and less of what he doesn’t want?
  • What is the culture like and how is it unique? Top performers want to be part of something special. What’s special about your culture?
  • Who works here? People want to work with people they like and respect. Strong performers want to work with other strong performers.
  • What’s it like to work for you? Do you involve people in interesting work? Do you coach and provide feedback? Do you provide development opportunities? Do you help increase people’s visibility in the organization?
  • What will my day look like at work? This is where realism is key.
  • What might my career look like? Is this job the end of the road or are there opportunities to grow with and within the organization?