Challenging the Status Quo: Making Leadership Development Models Dynamic

John Seely-Brown, Independent Co-chair, Deloitte Center for the Edge, and Visiting scholar and advisor to the Provost, University of Southern California
Future Leaders Conference, 9/14-15/2011, presented by TheConferenceBoard.org

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Disclosure: I was invited (and comped) by The Conference Board to attend this conference. But no editorial constraints were imposed upon me. To their credit, The Conference Board gave me complete and total control over whatever content and comments I felt appropriate to publish, without limitation, and without prior approval.

Separating Buzz from Reality: Targeted On-Demand Learning

Adam Vassar, Senior Consultant, Hogan Assessment Systems
Marc Wenzel, Vice President of Sales and Partnerships, ThinkWise Inc.
Future Leaders Conference, 9/14-15/2011, presented by TheConferenceBoard.org

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Disclosure: I was invited (and comped) by The Conference Board to attend this conference. But no editorial constraints were imposed upon me. To their credit, The Conference Board gave me complete and total control over whatever content and comments I felt appropriate to publish, without limitation, and without prior approval.

Developing Enterprise Leaders: Using Organizational Network Analysis to Develop Future Leaders

Dan Horn, Booz | Allen | Hamilton
Jeffrey Herman, Booz | Allen | Hamilton

Future Leaders Conference, 9/14-15/2011, presented by TheConferenceBoard.org

Just to say it, I felt this breakout session was the strongest of all in terms of the Thought Leadership it provided. I’ll explain why, but first, here’s what I tweeted during the presentation:

• What are/where are the ‘hidden efficiencies’ that ALREADY exist in your organization? UTILIZE them. #tcbfuture
• How/If you use these ‘hidden efficiencies’ (informal pathways) will determine your ultimate leadership success. #believeit #tcbfuture
• How best to identify hidden efficiencies? Survey questions about existing relationships BETWEEN people. #tcbfuture
• Map the interrelationships that exist between/among people to understand BOUNDARIES between/among people. #tcbfuture
• “It’s not the SIZE of your Rolodex, it’s the meaningfulness of the RELATIONSHIPS you have with people.” #tcbfuture
• “You make YOURSELF famous.” Booz|Allen|Hamilton motto. #tcbfuture
• Being a person who connects people with other people « key function that directly correlates to your success. #tcbfuture
• “Connectors” are the REAL change agents and future leaders. Know one? BE one! #tcbfuture
• TRUE leadership dev is about helping leaders be better Connectors across the networks ESSENTIAL to their org’s success. #tcbfuture

So the BIG idea I was left with was that the most important thing to consider when promoting someone into the upper leadership ranks is NOT their ‘functional’ experience, as MANY believe. And it’s not their NETWORK, per se, as SOME believe. But it’s the emerging leader’s ability to be someone that others WANT to create and sustain healthy relationships with. Sure, who YOU know is helpful. But who knows YOU (and who knows OF you) is what REALLY determines one’s organizational impact and influence.

Think about it. Networking is typically discussed in terms of value-added OUTBOUND interactions – Who do YOU know? Who are YOU comfortable reaching out to? Who are YOUR go-to people? Who do YOU want in YOUR network? What can YOU do to help them? – which Booz | Allen referred to, because of its focal point of oneself, as your EGO-network. Contrast that, though, with networking in terms of value-added INBOUND interactions – WHO knows you? WHO is comfortable reaching out to you? WHO wants you as THEIR go-to person? WHO wants you in THEIR network? How do THEY want you to help THEM? This decidedly different perspective is what Booz | Allen describes as your ECO-network.

(It’s like the difference between CONTACTS – who YOU know and typically reach out to – and CONNECTIONS – those who reach out to YOU and, as a result, are also likely to make time for you when you call/email/tweet/ping/visit them, etc.)

What makes this distinction important is this: Unless you’re a CEO, you’re only responsible for a relatively small slice of the total organization. And while that’s not to say you don’t have a lot of responsibility, it is to say that, relatively speaking, the sum of others’ responsibilities are greater. So, if you REALLY want to have a positive impact and influence on a greater scale, it’s incumbent upon you to be a person that OTHERS reach out to for assistance, rather than just someone who reaches out to others. Make sense?

Implications

• What this means to companies and OD professionals: Even if you’ve already got a hi-po development program, you need be evaluating your emerging leaders in terms of their abilities to get others to WANT to create and sustain healthy relationships with them.
• What this means to hiring managers: If you’re not filling your open leadership positions with people that others will WANT to create and sustain healthy relationships with, you’re not ready to tender an offer to anyone.
• What this means to emerging leaders: Even if you’re great at what you do, functionally-speaking, you need to learn how to become the type of leader that others WANT to create and sustain healthy relationships with.

And that’s a BIG idea.

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Disclosure: I was invited (and comped) by The Conference Board to attend this conference. But no editorial constraints were imposed upon me. To their credit, The Conference Board gave me complete and total control over whatever content and comments I felt appropriate to publish, without limitation, and without prior approval.

What Current Leaders Need to Know and Do

Padma Thiruvengadam, former Vice President, Asia Pacific/Canada Operations – Oncology, Pfizer Inc.
Future Leaders Conference, 9/14-15/2011, presented by TheConferenceBoard.org

Padma started off with a wonderful video –  Rise of the Rest – Let’s watch:

Rather than just SHOW the video, though, Padma used the spaces in between the slides to talk about the issues she believed to be relevant for best understanding what the world of future/emerging leaders will look like – and how best to prepare them for it.

• Consider “individual contributors” as leaders » they lead thru “indirect” leadership, but leadership nonetheless.
• Most companies don’t think about “Why?” Why do we NEED leaders?
• Essential Attributes of a Leader … Influence & Impact; Humble Confidence; Authenticity.
• Leadership COMPETENCIES are important, but how they are utilized on a moment-by-moment basis is ESSENTIAL.
• Organizations need to operation as a “fish net” – where EVERYONE has a leadership impact, not just whoever happens to be the ‘boss.’
• Cultural differences directly affect how business is accomplished – without properly understanding them, you call all too easily do the absolute WRONG thing for the absolute right reasons.

I thought this was a very interesting way to begin the conference – lights low, haunting piano, fascinating slides, Padma’s dark voice all helping us to truly wrap our brains around the fact that the challenges that face tomorrow’s leaders will be very different from what current leaders face. The promise of the conference: To help facilitate the growth and development of our future leaders. My only criticism of the keynote was that the AV guys left a rather gaping ‘dead zone’ in the PA system coverage that just happened to be exactly where Padma stood for much of her presentation. If only someone just shoved her a few feet to the right or left! By and large, though, an excellent keynote.

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Disclosure: I was invited (and comped) by The Conference Board to attend this conference. But no editorial constraints were imposed upon me. To their credit, The Conference Board gave me complete and total control over whatever content and comments I felt appropriate to publish, without limitation, and without prior approval.