AmCham Belgium > Publications > AmCham Connect > Consultant's Corner (Feb 2012)

Global economic troubles and the European debt crisis, along with other dramatic socio-political changes, have organizations re-thinking their direction and operations. Industry-specific problems and numerous local sources of pressure add further complications. CEOs and senior executives know their organizations must be agile and innovative and that new strategies are needed.

Unfortunately, at least two-thirds of strategic initiatives fail. For all our management expertise and effort, our success rate isn’t very impressive. Imagine if you sold only a third of the products you made or had customers for just a third of your service capacity – you would be taking a serious look at what is causing the failure.

William Pasmore, Senior Vice President and Organizational Practice Leader, Center for Creative Leadership, and Gary Adkins, Organizational Practice Leader, Center for Creative Leadership explain how in such cases, chances are, your organization needs a new leadership strategy.

The Consultant’s Corner

Matching Leadership Strategy to your Business Strategy

When a new strategy fails, chances are leadership failed too as strategic changes in the business also require strategic changes in leadership. You cannot assume that the leadership talent you have is the leadership talent you need.

So how do you know when you have a leadership gap? How can you recognize the mismatch between existing leadership capabilities and those required to implement new strategies – before it’s too late?

You need a leadership strategy – not just a business strategy.

The Leadership Strategy

A leadership strategy makes explicit how many leaders you need, what kind, where, with what skills, and behaving in what fashion to accomplish your business strategies.

As to the nuts and bolts of a leadership strategy, remember, the goal is to ensure that you have the leadership talent you need to accomplish your business strategies. Here’s how to start:

Define the business strategy and the leadership need

Be very clear and consistent about your business strategy. What are you trying to get the organization to do or become?

Despite the time and effort put into crafting strategies, many senior executives aren’t clear or in agreement about the purpose, direction or implementation of new initiatives. If there is any doubt, take time to clarify the new direction, plan or strategy, work through disagreement or concern, and identify challenges and possible pitfalls. Then assess current leadership capabilities against those needed in the future. What kind of leadership is needed to deliver on the business strategy? Understanding that the strategy will continue to change over time, what skills will be needed for the organization to remain agile?

Align talent systems

A leadership strategy addresses talent in a holistic way. When talent management and leadership development efforts are disconnected, key people walk out the door. Executives, human resources and talent management need to take a close look at who is available to fill key roles. What development do they need to be ready for future assignments? Do existing leaders need to be replaced? How will leaders with different characteristics and skills be attracted, developed and retained? Do our evaluation, promotion and compensation processes support our leadership needs?

Invest in culture

A leadership strategy must also address the cultural factors at play in the organization. The organizational, local and business unit cultures are powerful forces. So, too, is your leadership culture.

The norms, beliefs and expected behaviors in your organization may be supporting or hurting the needs of the business. For example, if the culture is top-down/command and control, but you are driving change that requires agility, speed and innovation, you have a leadership culture that is undermining your strategy. In your organization, what must change in the culture to allow a new way of operating that is aligned with the new strategy?

Adapt organizational design

Leaders do most of their learning on the job. If organizations are not intentional about shaping those experiences, talent at all levels learn less than they should – or focus on skills that may not be as essential to the organization.

Examine your organization’s policies, practices and support for leadership development. What elements constrain the organization and prevent it from developing necessary leadership talent? What could help your emerging leaders’ pool build new networks, gain perspective and learn valuable lessons? For example, you could rotate emerging leaders through roles in different divisions, sponsor cross-functional teams, and establish systems for local and global groups to interact in and learn from.

Get Core About Your Leadership Beliefs

Finally, you – as a senior leader – must get clear about your core leadership beliefs and values, ensure that your senior leaders embody them, and be personally committed to implementing a leadership strategy.

Are you willing to step up to change your own leadership style? Will you push for leadership that is capable of working in new ways to tackle the business strategy?

Will you ask the tough question: Is the talent we have the talent we need?

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Guidelines: Leadership Strategy

To begin, believing in the value of leadership is not a leadership strategy.

Many CEOs and executives talk about the importance of leadership. They endorse lists of competencies and methods to assess them. Their organizations seek out best practices and programs for developing leaders. Surprisingly, few executives are clear about what kind of leaders the organization needs for the future or how to develop them.

Related to that point is this: past success doesn’t always translate into future success. You cannot be sure that previous experience prepares leaders to deal with a new set of circumstances. Your ‘top’ and ‘best’ leaders (including yourself) need the capability to think and act differently. So whenever you plan a bold new strategy, you need to ask yourself: “Does our leadership have the capabilities required to do this?”

You also need to know that organizational leadership is not the sum of individual competencies. Skilled individual leaders are vital, but collective leadership drives change, steers organizations through uncertainty, and solves complex problems. In today’s organizations, people are connected across functions, levels and teams. If you are to succeed in implementing new strategies, leadership must cross over and engage people near and far, formally and informally.

Guidelines: Leadership Strategy

To begin, believing in the value of leadership is not a leadership strategy.

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