Creating Great Leaders

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Research by the Corporate Executive Board found that an astounding 50 to 70 percent of executives fail within 18 months of being hired or promoted. Not unique to any single industry, this high rate of failure occurs even though these new executives are hardworking, hold high values, and have the best of intentions to lead their organizations to success.   

Why do leaders fail? Why is their best not enough, and what can be done to ensure their success? 

Our research finds that individuals promoted into more senior positions continue to do the same work in the same way as the work they were doing in previous positions—but working harder, longer, and more intensely. The work patterns that previously brought them success cause them to fail in their new position. 

Along with a promotion must come a change in the way the new executive views and thinks about their work. Typically moving from a role that is largely focused on tactics to one that is more strategic, the new leader must be less hands-on and instead learn to develop and delegate the work to others. 

Watch our video, Creating Great Leaders, an introduction to our upcoming series of blogs on the subject. Topics we will cover include:  

Leadership Lesson 1: Broadening Your Vision

An average corporate leader is caught up in always responding to changes rather than anticipating them. You need a vantage point from which to see the bigger picture and spot opportunities and challenges.

Leadership Lesson 2: Negotiating Relationships

There will always be friction when you move into a new position; when that happens through an internal promotion, that friction is doubled. How can you gain respect for your new authority and keep friendships with your coworkers intact?

Leadership Lesson 3: Calibrating Your Work

The higher you rise in an organization, the more inundated you become with tasks and requests. Using a triage model can help you determine what you should (and shouldn’t) take on yourself, affording you the time to do what you MUST do: focus on pursuing the mission of your organization.

Leadership Lesson 4: Seeing the Future

The difference between a visionary leader and an operational one is the ability to see and interpret what’s on the horizon. A solid understanding of market trends and new technologies is the basis for strategic decisions that drive organizational profit and success. Give yourself adequate time to think about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Beard Executive Consulting can help move your executives from good to great through our webinars, seminars, consulting, and executive coaching. Learn more about our executive training webinars that focus on strategies to address the unique issues that leaders in your organization face on a daily basis.