Getting Your Leaders to Develop New Leaders

Over the years, many core concepts of a successful organization may be lost to future generations of managers and employees as its leaders move upward or retire. In the next decade nearly 50% of upper management in many corporations will vanish ... as baby-boomers retire.

It's not easy for these leaders to find time to pass along their experience and vision to new employees. Yet, more and more, hands-on leadership development by top company leaders is being found to be the most effective way to insure growth and perpetuate success.

"In the past, many CEOs and senior executives have been unapproachable on the subject of taking an active role in leadership development," explains Eric Herzog, President of Quest Consulting Corporation, "Yet, we've proven ø on a rather large scale ø that leader-led leadership development is one of the most profitable investments of time and money a successful corporate leader can make.

"The concept ø leaders developing leaders ø can be carried down through every department... in every facility," says Eric. "How much more powerful would the corporate mission statement be when delivered personally by the CEO? Who better to teach the operating procedures than the person who developed them?"

That's the challenge COSTCO Wholesale, the giant membership retailer, faced. Their growth plans called for 5,000 new leaders, over a 5 year period, to run the new U.S. stores they were opening. In addition, their overseas expansion to Asia and Europe meant new hurdles, crossing cultural and language barriers.

It became apparent that HR and upper management must work together to turn out the caliber of new manager the company needed to meet the expansion goals. The most successful leaders had to be recruited to tell the rest how to do it right. They needed to incorporate relevant examples from real day-to-day operations. And this concept made much more sense than bringing in outside trainers, with generic methods.

"At the time it seemed a radical concept," according to a COSTCO executive. "Pulling crucial managers off the floor and getting them to participate in leadership development programs had never been considered. Never seemed cost effective. Yet we were committed to the growth plans, so we got together with Eric and his Quest team and developed a program."

Building on the strengths of COSTCO's long-standing, solid retail reputation was a basis for the strategy they developed. A combination of capable staff, with a pioneer's knowledge of the marketplace, led the COSTCO/Quest team to focus on several areas...

Maximizing Internal Strengths

Studying existing capabilities led to a list of basic strengths which, when matched with the employee characteristics, pointed out what needed cultivation.

Assessing top leaders and performers led to a model of core competencies necessary to accomplish the objectives.

Developing New Capabilities

By assembling data from the successful, as well as the less than stellar pockets of the company, team members quickly found out the weak points. No matter what the category, there were stores which stood out for weaknesses or isolated successes. Successes demonstrating someone, or a team, had developed a better way of accomplishing their mission.

Taking advantage of those new methods and skills gleaned company-wide necessitated a step-by-step program. And leadership by those very innovators who were solving problems and getting peak performance in their departments. The Leader-Led program was set up to tap into this wealth of experience.

Know the Marketplace

Understanding Future Markets is a key factor in training the leaders of tomorrow. And this endeavor -- undertaken correctly -- involves the entire organization in the process. After understanding comes planning. To take advantage of potential new opportunities never dreamed of just a few years ago.

Preparing for New Customer Behavior involves input from all levels in an organization. Here's a key area where Leader-Led Development gives those privy to the best corporate information the chance to apply it to building the leadership base that will accomplish the goals over the next decades.

Now, senior leaders don't just "send" their staff to take a course. They help design and actually facilitate the program. They make a commitment to develop their people and support them on the job. They identify specific ø real ø issues and teach tomorrow's leaders how to apply the company's preferred methods to deal with them.

The results have been spectacular. On every level COSTCO's HR team has documented and proven the program has impacted the bottom line. Not only are they getting more effective training, they are cutting costs by eliminating ineffective programs. In addition, the same program was exported effortlessly overseas, cutting ramp-up time for new operations and building successful teams with proven, repeatable methods. Proof of an HR program, which is truly in line with, and actively supporting corporate goals.

• For additional details about Leader-Led Leadership Development, click here.
• To download our Executive Briefing on Leader-Led Leadership Development, click here.