How can you grow the next generation of executive leaders?

The biggest responsibility for leaders is to spot the right talent, nurture it and grow it. Most promotions consider the potential and therefore it is critical to look for leadership traits that can help navigate the organizations in times of uncertainty. key skills such as empathy, collaboration, growth mindset, and personal transformation are the ones to consider.

I believe that the Future needs leaders with a high level of personal maturation. This is what vertical adult development is about. Ways to support leaders grow, change their mindset, strenghten their integrity and be able to stay calm when it storms around them. This type of growth needs of course individuals, who are interested to look into the mirror and meet the uncomfortable feeling of doubt about how the person has perceived the self, the world and the contact between the two. Readiness to change. Leadership presence is, I believe, at the core of sensing what is needed in an organization, how to communicate respectfully and get others onboard. A leader′s most important tool is she herself or he himself.

All the analytical tools that help to identify the right candidate to work is definitely working almost in positive way. Yet another important factor to keep in your mind is your intution for that potential. Mostly you feel the fabric that is needed for the overall goal of the company matches with the candidate. And you need to be supportive on the way to improve himself/herself to become successor of you. Of course it does not mean that you'll trust only your feelings but good leader understands/senses whom to choose to become next one.

La forma de liderar cambió... Así de simple. Aunque muchos no lo entiendan, aunque en muchos países estemos en pa?ales y aún existan líderes que quieren que las personas los miren hacia arriba. Por eso es importante el entrenamiento a los nuevos liderazgos, para que creen espacios conscientes y saludables. Lugares donde la comunicación y la preocupación por el desarrollo de las personas sea una de las prioridades. Siempre he sido una convencida que los resultados vienen por consecuencia. Los nuevos líderes deben conocer la responsabilidad de que son facilitadores y que pueden generar cosas maravillosas en las personas, pero otra veces, que el trabajo sea lo peor que le puede estar pasando, llegando incluso a perjudicar su salud.

The best way to grow the next generation of executive leaders, is by giving people a chance to shine. Teach people what you need them to know and then allow them the space to perform. Future executive leaders will reveal themselves over time, I performing above and beyond and taking initiative to continue to advance within the organization.

In my experience, the strongest executive leaders bring a varied portfolio of professional experience, spanning different functions, projects, companies, and countries. By having varied experience, they are able to fully appreciate the roles of different departments, engage on a wide variety of topics, moderate disagreements, and bridge cultural barriers. Moving from functional management roles to executive leadership inevitably means a much wider range of topics to be covered each day, with correspondingly less time to analyse each individual topic. That change in "inbox" contents further increases the value of varied professional experience.

Cultivating the next generation of executive leaders is of strategic importance. Here's how: -Training Programs Provide essential leadership knowledge and tools and can be tailored to your organization's specific needs. I am currently working with accelerators to provide Leadership and Branding toolkits to their emerging CEO/Founders. -Coaching and Mentoring Provide one-on-one guidance and share their experiences. -Stretch Assignments Expand rising leaders' skill sets and develop their ability to adapt and thrive in uncertain times. -Cross-Functional Projects Broaden their horizons, allowing them to collaborate and win together. -Engagement with Senior Leaders Provides insights into the decision-making processes at the top.

Leverage Junior Board concept, inviting your top early/mid leaders to the board room and giving them a true access to company decision making process, financial data but also let them face making difficult decisions. So when the moment comes and they become executives, they have a genuine understanding of the role, expectations and exec modus operandi.

Best way to grow readiness for executive roles? Ask them to lead cross-functional initiatives, and provide mentorship. This lets them grow their skills in chartering an initiative, taking responsibility for a promise that will take coordination to fulfill, partnering well across functional mindsets and org boundaries, managing a complex project, navigating breakdowns, and satisfying internal or external customers. Leading this sort of project can be both exciting and daunting, and it's a rich time for support from mentors and coaches.

This is about creating a culture of servant leaders and investing in Servant Leadership Development by: Pairing promising leaders with experienced servant leaders who can model the behaviour and provide guidance. Recognize and reward leaders who demonstrate servant leadership qualities through their actions. From my experience, the greatest leaders never tolerated poor behaviour and ensured this was part of performance reviews. Give employees ownership of projects and decision-making, encouraging initiative and leadership at all levels. Create a safe space for open and honest feedback, allowing leaders to learn and grow.

Recently, I had a conversation with a client who were focused on their “A List” of candidates to lead the way change works. What stood out in the conversation was, “what about your bench strength?” Aka “B List” of future and potential candidates that can step in at a minutes notice. < insert back to the Drawing Board here>

First and foremost, it's essential to define what leadership means within your organization. Without a shared understanding, people don't know what to/not to lean into. For instance, at XYZ Corp., leadership isn't about authority—it's about influence, collaboration, and the ability to inspire others. Second, recognize that true leadership is a collective effort and works best when it's not confined to one individual; sharing the leadership load allows for a dynamic interplay of skills and talents. So, I'd advise intentionally cultivating leadership TEAM culture. This sense of shared accountability encourages everyone, not just the executives, to step up and lead.

Other critical aspect for the potential leader is giving enough room for her/him to maneuver. Empowerment is another form of fostering that culture of trust as well as co-creating some critical stuff together. Then you may observe the next challenging task of him/her and let he/she improve on the way despite failures. Don't forget fear of fail is another roadblocker in a cultural trap.

The tone of the culture of the organization is set by the behaviors of the executive leaders. And culture still eats strategy for breakfast. As an executive leader, reflect on your behaviors and assess what impact it has on the culture of the organization. Self awareness, self reflection and acting on those needs deliberate intent.

We get the opportunity to grow leaders every day, mostly in our actions, behaviors, and the way we make decisions. We can grow the next generation by being authentic and vulnerable ~ we don't need to demonstrate that we're right all the time and that we're perfect, far from it. The next generation will learn from us when we are humble enough to admit when we make mistakes, and we are willing, as leaders, to change the strategy and learn from others, too. Being authentic and demonstrating self-leadership builds trust with our followers.

Leading by example is the best way to grow the next generation of executive leaders. Demonstrate integrity, vision, and resilience in your daily actions and watch them grow. Executives must mentor and empower emerging leaders, providing them with opportunities for growth and responsibility. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and feedback, executives will inspire others to develop leadership skills. Ultimately, if you want to build trust and motivate future leaders to excel, you have to be consistent in your actions and words.

Action speaks louder than words. Attitude are contagious. Influence is powerful. When they watch you display the qualities of leadership, they naturally will want to emulate you. Help them see how you continue to improve yourself and skills by your actions. Show them your personal library. Tell them how you came to be who you are today, the wins and the failures in the process. Continue to become the kind of person you wish to be seeing in them.

Most important thing is to be able to identify the person with the leadership quality and the right attitude. I believe skill sets can be taught but attitude is something which cannot be taught. I would look for such a person and train them to grow using all the available tools.

Expose high-potential employees to different areas of the business. This will help them to develop a broader understanding of the company and its operations. Give high-potential employee opportunities to lead teams and projects. This will help them to develop their leadership skills and experience. Provide high-potential employees with access to mentors and coaches. This will help them to learn from experienced leaders and to get support and guidance as they develop their careers. Create a culture of learning and development. Encourage employees to take advantage of training and development opportunities, and make it easy for them to do so.

Young execs need to be able to leverage a seasoned executives relational equity and build a strategic network. A company’s investment in a young Exec is not just financial but time and attention. Starve them of time, attention and compensation and your company will loose them to someone who will invest in them.

In developing the next generation of leaders, it's important to consider what the 'next generation' is actually going to need to be and do. What worked for leadership in the past won't necessarily work for leadership in the future. Leaders from the 'old way' need to be prepared to embrace and support new leaders coming through: their different ways working, their different ideas, their different styles.

Growing the next generation of executive leaders involves mentorship, professional development, and opportunities for leadership roles. I actively identify high-potential individuals within the organization and provide them with mentorship and coaching to develop their leadership skills. Also, I create pathways for growth by assigning them challenging projects and gradually increasing their responsibilities, allowing them to gain valuable experience and confidence as future leaders.