Developing the ‘golden layer’ of leaders in fast-growth companies

This week Elevayte, Northzone and TrueLayer gathered a room full of People leaders over coffee and croissants to talk about what It really takes to develop senior leaders in a fast-growth, ever-changing business.

The level below the Exec is responsible for translating strategy into execution. This "golden layer" of leaders operates the business, delegates to teams, and pushes back on executives - playing a pivotal role in the company’s success. However, many at this level are often inexperienced as leaders and carry significant IC responsibilities too. Developing this vital group into a cohesive, high-performing leadership community is crucial.

Here are the top 3 themes from the discussion:

1.????? Take the time to lay the foundations

• Get clear on a definition of high performance that is specific to your strategy and mission
• Crystallise the behaviours that will drive the high performance culture you’re seeking to create
• This will provide a universal language for leadership excellence
• Align the Exec on the two or three core elements that drive the growth strategy (yes, just the two or three things- prioritise)
• Once aligned, engage the Exec in the co-creation of the development programme. Make them your biggest advocates and champions
• Get clear on the ‘why’ of this programme, and ground everything in the real context of your business

2.???? Focus on continuous development, not training

• Training is ‘done’ to people whereas development is co-created and owned by the leaders themselves
• Use the design phase or launch of a programme to contract for success. Get input and feedback from the leaders about what they need. Once leaders take ownership of their development priorities, they drive the programme forward and hold each other to account
• Start with self-awareness, and build from there
• Come back to the important stuff again and again. If you truly want a feedback culture, you can’t share a model once and hope it sticks. Focus on what matters most and keep revisiting, practicing, and learning
• Have a consistent narrative but an agile programme. You probably don’t know what you want to focus on in 9 months’ time, and that’s ok. Keep the ‘why’ of your programme constant, but create a programme that is agile and can adapt where needed

3.???? Build a community

• All the research on high performance, belonging and innovation shows that trust is the fundamental building block. This can’t be cultivated overnight, or when leaders are only brought together for meetings where they discuss OKRs
• Make a programme feel special, and be intentional about how you build connection amongst this group
• Encourage cross-functional or regional collaboration via mechanisms like peer coaching or mentoring
• Develop the mindset of operating as one unified, collaborative leadership community versus silos
• Engage in two-way dialogue between the Exec and this layer to communicate on goals, metrics, and what matters most
• Experiment and iterate. Get leaders to feedback and share what’s working and what needs improvement. This is a constant learning exercise after all

Ultimately, cultivating this golden layer takes an intentional, multi-faceted approach. Taking the time to do the important upfront work to get leader alignment, ongoing development tailored to evolving needs, and a cohesive leadership community will enable you to unleash the power of your leaders. Whilst this can feel hard, this focused investment transforms your ability to create something that leaders will remember for their whole careers.

Huge thanks to Northzone for convening this interesting group of People leaders and to TrueLayer for hosting the discussion in their snazzy new offices.

If you want to learn more about Elevayte's invite-only events for People Leaders, get in touch with Kusia Pell .