PAPERmaking! FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY Volume 4, Number 2, 2018
The Shape of Today’s Leadership Gap So how has the leadership gap changed and grown over the last decade?
In our research, we identified 9 leadership competencies that were weak or missing. These represent both a gap between current leadership needs and skills as well as future leadership needs and current skills: x Managing change
x Inspiring commitment x Leading employees x Taking initiative x Building collaborative relationships x Having a strategic perspective x Knowing strategic planning x Embracing participative management x Being a quick learner
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a 10th crucial leadership competency grow in importance — career management is now also critical. Current and future leaders can no longer rely on their employers to guide and manage their careers. But rather, they need to
be able to do so on their own. So where does all this leave us?
Organizations that want to ensure they have the leaders they’ll need (and won’t have a leadership gap) must take leadership development into their own hands. They need to be deliberative and strategic in defining their goals and strategies, and understand the challenges to achieving those goals. Those challenges, in turn, should inform decisions about what leadership competencies the organization requires. With those established, employers can develop leadership development programs, talent management strategies, and leadership pipelines they need to nurture and grow future leaders. These things are, unfortunately, harder than simply going out and hiring the next hotshot high-potential manager or implementing new collaboration software. Leadership development can be messy and challenging, just like the environments our organizations operate in. But facing those messy challenges is the only way to bridge the leadership gap and ensure your organization survives and thrives.
Article 12 – Leadership
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