(Non) Accidental Leadership

Promoting the highest skilled employee into a management position is common business practice. Unfortunately, many of these leaders take on their new roles with little or no formal preparation, and often do not have any operational understanding of what becoming a manager entails.

As a result, these "accidental" leaders assume they will be performing basically the same tasks as before, and tend to take a "follow me" approach in managing employees and delegating duties to their teams.

It is estimated that 40 percent of new managers fail within the first 18 months of assuming their new roles, and that poor leadership is one of the top two reasons for business failures. This data certainly highlights why it is important to address leadership effectiveness early on in a manager's career.¹

What is preventing managers from being successful?

So, what prevents technically-skilled employees from becoming great leaders?

A fragmented approach to development - Upper management often tries a variety of development initiatives to guide their technical leaders (e.g., classroom-based training, e-learning, coaching, action learning, etc.), but these efforts are typically not integrated, leaving employees with an incomplete picture of how strategies link to one another to support the overall goals of the company.

When it is not clear how each strategy is part of the bigger picture, it becomes too easy for leaders to simply go through the motions or altogether dismiss the program.
Unprepared to put ideas into action - In an effort to become a great leader, employees may avidly read books about leadership theory and trends, but find it difficult to translate the ideas into action due to a lack of knowledge or proper tools. Knowing what to do and being able to do it often require different competencies.
Not prioritising the value of "leading" over "doing" - Technically-skilled employees who move into management roles tend to be the best and the brightest - the ones able to complete tasks quicker and better than others. The job of leading often does not provide the same sense of satisfaction as doing the work yourself, nor does it provide the instant results new managers are accustomed to generating.

To become effective leaders, managers must resist the temptation to "do what has to be done" and instead embrace the long-term value that delegating and leading others to accomplish the work will create for the organisation.

Key leadership traits

With sufficient preparation and guidance, technical employees can become great leaders. But what exactly does effective leadership look like? Below are the leadership characteristics we have found to be most important:

Masters of communication - Effective leaders understand that an ongoing communication loop exists where employees give input and they respond with both constructive criticism and positive feedback. In industries where multicultural business is the norm, great communication skills often become the hallmark of an effective leader.
Ability to build strong relationships - Leaders that effectively relate to people tend to build the most effective teams, and subsequently, achieve the greatest success.
Continually looking forward - In a marketplace where business goals can be a moving target, the ability to look forward and anticipate change is becoming an increasingly important leadership skill.
Motivators of action - Leaders are responsible for providing a great atmosphere for their teams to learn and grow, while helping to identify potential obstacles in their paths. Outstanding leaders motivate others to set "stretch" goals and then to take the necessary steps to accomplish them.

Five steps for increasing leadership bench strength

It is easy to see how these traits promote leadership success, but helping managers gain them can be challenging, particularly if a person has been a leader for some time and has fallen into a "groove" of managing.

But, in industries where leaders' current capabilities fall short of future needs, management needs to provide the functional knowledge and tools to begin increasing its leadership bench strength today.

Here are five recommendations for turning your technical employees into effective, result-producing leaders and developing the competencies that will ensure their long-term success:

Measure current capabilities and potential against company goals - A successful transition should start with a value-based approach in order to focus on how each leader impacts the business's strategic goals.

In the early stages of leadership, it is critical that employees focus on driving objectives through their own leadership abilities. To achieve this level of cohesiveness, supervisors should take time to assess where technical employees are in their careers and identify the current leadership skills they possess ... as well as the ones they need to develop before becoming leaders.

This creates a starting point for the transition and helps to identify the most appropriate development opportunities.
Create a development "road map" - To successfully identify the means by which employees will become successful leaders, you first need to know where they are going. Once a destination (i.e., leadership position) has been identified, a manager can then design a development "road map" with the employee that will provide specific directions on how to prepare for the responsibilities and demands of the new role.
Build long-term engagement - New leaders need to demonstrate strong personal commitment to achieving their teams' long-term goals, so developing a strong sense of engagement is important. Strategic engagement involves ongoing development activities such as training courses, mentoring and coaching as well as performance reviews.

Integration is a key component of a successful development strategy, so identify a few critical leadership practices (e.g., 360° feedback, coaching plans, etc.) and make sure they are part of a complete leadership development process. To achieve optimum engagement, align development programs with your company's culture and goal planning.
Provide development throughout the leadership lifecycle - Often, leaders encounter situations where they need extra support in their careers, but they do not ask for help, out of fear of being perceived as weak.

New managers often face tremendous pressure to prove themselves in their new roles and need this assistance. But, so do more experienced leaders who are facing organisational and/or cultural shifts, as well as significant changes in the operational environment.
Measure the results - Upper management needs to re-think leadership development in ways that drive business results and demonstrate a return on investment (ROI).

Consistently reviewing and updating metrics will ensure technical leaders have quantifiable sets of goals they need to achieve in order to be successful.

¹Cottrell, David, Ken Carnes, and Mark Layton, Management Insights; CornerStone Leadership Institute, December 2003

Norman Schippers, Capital H Group. Capital H Group is a consulting firm that takes a value-based approach to helping companies manage, and invest in, their human capital. Partnering with our clients, we focus on creating value through their people. For further information, visit web site: www.capitalHgroup.com
First published: 18 October 2007.
Last updated: 18 October 2007.