How to Identify and Nurture Future Leaders Within Your Organization?

Some of the best leaders for your company are the ones who started as fresh-faced newbies a few years ago and had trouble navigating their way around the office. Now, they’re one of the people that everyone turns to when they need help with a project or advice on something bothering them.

They’re the team players and the ones who work for the sake of the company, not for their own benefit and gain. They’re more interested in seeing everyone succeed rather than holding anyone down.

Watch these people’s accomplishments and learn how they got them done. Watch how they work cross-departmentally, involving as many stakeholders in a project, rather than clutching at everything like it’s the last life preserver on the Titanic.

In other words, a one-person band won’t go out of their silo to solicit help or advice from colleagues or vendors. But someone who is truly interested in and excited about the outcome of a project will try every avenue to accomplish their goal.

Those are the people you want to tap for future leadership roles, not the people who hoard the outcomes for themselves.

That’s because those are the people who can accomplish things without pissing off every member of their team or other teams. They’re going to be your best leaders because they’re getting people to buy into their vision. They’re building trust amongst each other, and you can see who defers to them and is eager to work with them. Those are the people you want to give opportunities to develop their leadership potential.

That means investing in their education and certifications or whatever is necessary to help them qualify to meet the needs of the organization and the department.

It means being smart in your hiring practices to have continuing education programs. Those don’t have to be on a specific subject matter; they can also be on management and leadership. Send them to leadership conferences, management seminars, MBA classes, anything that helps them get better at their job.

The benefit is that you get a more educated management team, and your best employees are more likely to stay and contribute because you have invested so much in them.

When choosing your future leaders, it’s always good to have a contingency plan. In other words, who would be your top two or three picks, in case your first choice decides to quit and move on? Identify your managers’ replacements early on, and then identify those people’s replacements, and so on. Start developing them to move into their future roles, rather than waiting for the position to open up and delaying their onboarding time.

Bottom line: When looking for a replacement, it’s always better to promote from within because they already accept the company culture and have been accepted by it. As long as there isn’t a cultural disconnect, they’ll do well within the company, and they’ll continue to promote it.

Yes, sometimes it is necessary to hire from outside the organization, but only when there’s no one inside it to fill the role. Just remember to hire for fit as much, if not more, than you hire for skill.

I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now, I help companies turn around their own business, including pivoting within their industry. If you would like more information, please visit my website and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Photo credit: Ronald Carreño (Pixabay, Creative Commons 0)