Imagine this statement: Only 27% of global CFOs say they are well prepared to deal with financial management. Terrible, isn’t it? Now consider this: Only 27% of global CEOs say they are well prepared to address Human Capital issues. Terrible? Yes, but a pure anecdote in the business press. However, this is actually what the Global Leadership Forecast 2014/2015 report from the Conference Board says.
These global leaders (13000 interviewed) also said that they have 4 priorities: improve leadership development programs, enhance the effectiveness of senior management teams, improve the effectiveness of front-line supervisors and managers, and improve succession planning.
It’s all that ‘people stuff’, isn’t it? We keep going in circles. We need to de-functionalised the ‘people stuff’ from HR. Leadership is not an outsource-able function.
Any manager in a (new) leadership position should have a serious reflection time for a deep insight into his/her capabilities. These ‘new leaders’ need help. Certainly frameworks, and maps, and processes that HR can provide. But HR can’t do the work for them.
Also, top leaders need to have ‘leadership’ at the top of the agenda, not as an ‘add on topic’ once all the operational conversations have taken place. A seriously engaged (on the leadership topic) top Leadership Team, and a similar mirror of engagement in their direct reports, is just the minimal condition sine qua non to function.
Ask HR for help with roadmaps. But don’t pass the monkey.