Many organisations are speeding up the development of future leaders. Occupational Psychologist, Ines Wichert, writes in her book, Accelerated Leadership Development, that this trend is being driven up by a shortage of leadership talent and a hunger by millennials for rapid career progress. Ines concludes that, with the right development, the 12 to 15 years it usually takes to move from graduate to senior executive level can be reduced by 25 – 30%.
So how can organisations achieve this acceleration?
Ines asserts that this is achieved by exposing rising stars to a range of roles and enabling them to develop the necessary leadership capabilities of tomorrow which are:
- Openness to change
- Comfort with ambiguity
- Curiosity
- Emotional Intelligence
- Maturity to engage others through vulnerability
Maturity, by definition, takes years to develop so, beyond ensuring a breadth of experience for emerging leaders, how can maturity be developed quicker?
The consensus is around embedding a culture of reflection to enable a ‘reflection-mindset’ that is key to developing maturity. Coaching is an ideal way of rapidly nurturing this reflective mindset by enabling (young) people to:
- See self more clearly – Accurate self-awareness in leaders is highly correlated with organisational effectiveness and profitability and employees prefer to follow leaders who see themselves more clearly and are willing to share their perceptions. A good coach will gather input about how others see you, explore their perceptions with you and pick up on patterns/themes. A coach will help you build skills to see yourself more clearly, challenge assumptions about yourself and be curious about your strengths and future growth.
- See others more clearly – Leaders often run into problems because of their inaccurate assessment of those around them. An insightful coach will often have more neutral and inquisitive perceptions of those around you and will share/challenge/explore those to help you become more accurate in your assessment of others.
- Learn new ways to respond – We all have a set of capabilities and responses that may serve us well at our current level but won’t as senior leaders. A coach can help shift mindsets and focus at the right level towards the highest priority goals.
- Leverage existing strengths – An effective coach will help you see and leverage strengths that you may be underestimating, see the value and uniqueness of these capabilities and learn how to use them more effectively for the benefit of individuals, teams and the organisation.
- Build more productive relationships – Leaders can limit their effectiveness by only building strong relationships with certain kinds of people (often people like themselves). A coach can hold the mirror up to see and question limiting assumptions and offer tools to understand and create strong and vital working relationships with a wider variety of people.
- Achieve goals and dreams – It’s not just about being clear about what you want but also what you are capable of. A coach is a valuable support system, someone who knows you well and wants the best for you while being a neutral third party to highlight what you are doing that is supporting your intentions or getting in the way. By embracing new ways of thinking or operating, you will reach your goals more quickly and create the leadership career you want.
Like any new endeavour, working with a coach can be challenging but by being brave, committed and curious, a coaching partnership can be a powerful catalyst to accelerating any leadership journey.
