Why current leaders struggle to identify future leaders

Let’s be honest: leaders who have excelled in the past look pretty different from leaders that are going to excel in the current environment and from leaders who are going to excel in the future. 

This is a problem because your current leaders are the ones looking for potential leaders in the pipeline and they are looking for what has worked well in the past and they tend to look for people like themselves. For this reason, leaders need to adapt their criteria for identifying potential leaders. 

To put this into perspective, consider how leadership skills during the Industrial Revolutions differ from the leadership skills needed for knowledge workers today. I would argue that historically, many organizations have been slow to adapt their leadership mindset and behaviors and they perpetuate outdated practices; the fact that I still see many older leaders prioritizing time spent in a chair versus output is a signal of this. The organizations that adapt quicker are going to be the ones who succeed more and develop a competitive advantage.

Understand that relying on past success markers is a strategic misstep and learn what leadership qualities and competencies are necessary for current and future leaders. Train your leaders to understand how to identify their unconscious biases when they are selecting future leadership candidates. On the flip side, if you’re looking to advance your career, learn how to sell your future leadership potential. 

I work with organizations in an advisory capacity to help them define what future leadership means for them and to create and nurture their leadership pipeline.