“Leaders Made Here: Building a Leadership Culture” by Mark Miller (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $22.95).Miller’s tale about “bench strength” follows Blake the new CEO recruited from outside to fix an organization with declining sales and profits. One week on the job and the head of HR retires. His executive team returns blank stares when he asks if […]
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
“Leaders Made Here: Building a Leadership Culture” by Mark Miller (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $22.95).
Miller's tale about “bench strength” follows Blake the new CEO recruited from outside to fix an organization with declining sales and profits. One week on the job and the head of HR retires. His executive team returns blank stares when he asks if there's an internal replacement. Those stares told Blake that real leadership heads the problems of the firm.
On an interim basis, Blake brings in Charles, an accomplished HR pro. In addition to handling HR duties and finding a replacement, Blake needs Charles to help the team understand that leadership isn't about the titles they hold — it's about the example they set.
During Charles' first meeting with the execs, he asked them to write down their definition of leadership. All had different answers, which meant that they and their teams were on different pages. He defined culture as “nothing more than the consistent habits of the people,” and explains the role of leadership in terms of creating a culture of employee development that develops leaders (i.e. job owners not job doers). At the end of the meeting, Blake asked if there were questions. There were none.
They met with the HR team next. The elephant in the room was apparent when one HR staffer asked: “What exactly is a leadership culture, why would we want one and assuming we do, how would we build one?” Charles and Blake explained that leadership “is the only sustainable competitive advantage” because it builds a team that's always on the “we have to be even better” page.
The HR staff defined leadership as SERVE. S — see the future; E — engage and develop others; R — reinvent continuously; V — value results and relationships; E — embody the values. Recognizing that HR was on board with leadership culture Blake and Charles tasked them with developing a set of “how” questions and interviewing the executive team.
There was pushback — especially from David the operations VP. He stated that it was his job to create a leadership culture for his team. When HR pointed out that there were several unfilled management positions on his team and that internal candidates had been rejected, he responded: “When I need your help, which I doubt, I will call you.” How many silo-dwelling Davids are on your team? It only takes one closed mind to derail the efforts of others.
The HR team also contacted “Best to Work for” companies for their insights into leadership development. They found that much of the development was focused on lower-level managers and supervisors. Why? Because that's where “bench strength” comes from. Like a baseball team's minor-league system, these companies were preparing employees to play in the major leagues.
There was an added benefit, too. The lower-level trainees carried the development message to their staffs, which showed them paths to opportunity.
HR also found that e-learning played a vital development role. Taking people away from their jobs to attend classes often had adverse effects on productivity. Providing flexible e-learning opportunities was less disruptive to individual schedules.
The “final exam” involved actual leading. After completing the coursework, they were given the opportunity to lead project teams.
Seasoned leaders mentored “new” leaders throughout their learning activities. This showed everyone that the organization “walked the talk” at all levels. As workplace word-of-mouth spread, the company attracted top talent because it had a “Leaders Made Here” employment brand.
When the HR team's results were presented to the executive team, they (even doubting David) agreed that leadership builds business.
Question to ask: How are you developing “bench strength”?
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
