3 Things must change with every transition

Every leadership role requires a specific leadership capacity. A leader can be effective in any role at any level if he/she has the right skills, spends his/her time doing the appropriate things and above all, the belief system is aligned to the requirement of the role. We come across leaders who are operating at one level lower than what is required from them. A few examples:

• A busy hands-on manager who is always doing things that others should be doing (No body in my team is as skilled as I am)
• The manager who has answers for every one’s problem (Let me tell you how this issue needs to be handled)
• An upcoming business manager still spending time on customer interactions (I was the most successful sales head)

What should a leader (or a manager) be doing? When should a leader be focusing on delegating or coaching or giving equal attention to all functions?

Inadequate Leadership capacity Organisations will have to pay attention to how to build leadership capacity for all roles at every levels. A simple model has been suggested by Ramcharan, Drotter & Noel. Leadership capacity is built when a leader:

• ?Evolved Work Values – A leader’s belief system about what is important for the role.
• Aligned Time management – Where should the leader spend his time and energy.
• Relevant Skill Sets – What are the most critical skills for a particular role.

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Leadership Capacity Building process – Capacity building for leaders at various levels can not be managed in a peace meal manner. Organisations will have to set up an integrated process for leadership development. The Leadership capacity building process must have the following elements:

1. Leadership capacity building Selection – Leaders must be selected early so that they time to get skilled, work on certain assignments before they are ready to take the new responsibility. The time frame may vary but a 2-year period works well.
2. Leadership capacity building Team - The capacity building process requires leaders with a variety of skills.

• Leadership Mentors – Best suited for impacting the belief systems of others
• Leadership Coaches – Best suited for performance coaching. Helping others with observation and feedback about the changes in time management and other new skills that are being imparted.
• Leadership Buddies – Best suited to receive candid feedback from the new leaders about what they are feeling during the transition.

3. Leadership capacity building Phases

Development Phase

• ?Learning Sessions - A phase where the New Leaders learn new skills critical for new roles. These can be classroom sessions or online sessions.
• Interactions with Leaders - ??They provide insights and context to the learning process.
• Interaction with Mentors - To understand and inculcate a new belief system.

Application phase

• Application time - A specific time-period which allows the new leaders to apply the skills without being judged for performance.
• Coaching Session - These can be 1 to 1 session with coaches who provide the feedback on specific issues about the learning and application of skills.?

Transition phase

• A time-period where the person is working under an experienced period for a specified duration
• It can be a project or a special assignment.

Leaders are promoted basis their performance at one level. Their promotion puts them at a higher level where the requirements are totally different. Hence very leader and every organisation need to work as one integrated unit to build leadership capacities which will serve the organisation and the individual leader in fulfilling their aspirations.

Thank you everyone for subscribing to the Newsletter. Kindly share your views, opinions and experiences of transitions and transformation.

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