To prosper in these times of rapid change, organisations need more and better leadership. Well-led companies systematically invest in developing future leaders on the premise that leaders are bred, not born. But, the return on this investment is rarely commensurate with the aspirations of participating executives or company sponsors. So what explains the gap?

Most of us agree on what leadership means. Leaders are people who establish a new direction, gain the co-operation and commitment of their team in order to pursue the new direction, and motivate the team to overcome obstacles in the way.

The important question is how people develop these rather intangible skills. In my research I have found that leadership development is not a continuous progression but rather a rocky process in which the rules of success change at various inflection points. To make the transition, managers must first recognise the inflection. Then they must adapt not only their skills but also their network of relationships and their management style.

For an aspiring leader this can feel like a radical transformation, one that strikes at their very sense of identity. That is why leadership transitions can provoke a lot of self-questioning: Who do I want to become? What do I like to do? Do I have what it takes to learn a different way of operating? Is it me? Is it worth it?

Take the example of a manager called Tim. The general manager of a consumer products subsidiary, Tim was regarded in his company for his turnaround skills. But after a few successful assignments he found himself having a string of problems. His relationship with an older, more conservative colleague in marketing suffered from miscommunication and a lack of trust. Although his results were excellent, Tim’s boss gave him his first poor performance review, pointing to Tim’s inability to delegate and to communicate laterally within the company. Understandably, Tim began to wonder whether he was better off making a career out of his turnaround skill rather than shooting for a senior post.

Another typical example is Betty. Having risen through the ranks, Betty found herself stumped by a top-level proposal for a radical reorganisation. Although she had built a loyal, high-performing team, she lacked networks outside her group to sense this change. Worse, she was assessed by her boss as lacking ‘the big picture’. Frustrated, Betty contemplated quitting. She failed to recognise the importance of utilising networks that cut across organisational silos and hierarchy; she believed in relying on what you know rather than who you know; using networks was ‘wasting time on politics’. To succeed at the next level Betty needed to reassess her priorities and how she utilised her time.

The hurdles faced by Tim and Betty are not unusual. In fact, they illustrate the most common learning challenges for aspiring leaders:

* learning to sell their ideas
* developing and utilising informal networks
* communicating clear and simple messages that have emotional impact
* delegating effectively, and
* improving social skills such as empathy, listening and coaching.

Both Tim and Betty made the leadership transition. With motivation, practice and feedback they were able to come to understand the leadership requirements of their new roles, adapting their approach, style and sense of self accordingly. Let’s now outline the steps in this process.

First, many of us assume that managers are only motivated to change by negative feedback or poor performance. Tim, however, had failed to assimilate his feedback. Why? He’d always been successful. At stake was more than simply better delegation and communication. To move forward he had to give up his view of himself as a competent doer, contributing solely to the performance of his unit. In fact, anticipating a valued reward motivates change much more than the fear of failure. When Tim’s boss told him that whether he eventually moved up into the upper echelons or remained forever the firm’s trusted ‘turnaround artist’ depended on his willingness to change, the negative feedback became an opportunity for a series of productive conversations about his future.

Next, while most learning happens on the job, not all jobs help inculcate new leadership skills. Changes in behaviour rarely stick without a change of assignment. Shifting to a new context allows the aspiring leader to experiment new skills with a group that has no preconceived notions about him or her. Hoping to stretch him, Tim’s boss assigned him to a cross-functional team working on a new market. Although the taskforce allowed him to practise a more participative style with his peers, when he returned to his organisation he faced a group de-skilled by his past inability to delegate. Only when he moved onto his next assignment was he able to apply his new behaviour. As the head of a much bigger division, one that did not require a turnaround, Tim operated differently. He either had to delegate or do everything himself. He chose the former.

Finally, even with high doses of motivation and practice, managers can fail to broaden their leadership skills for lack of feedback. A first step in Tim’s transition was a frank discussion with his boss, who encouraged other senior managers to counsel Tim about his strengths, shortcomings and ambitions. However, new leaders especially need help to make what often feels like abstract feedback more specific and operational – for example: ‘Here’s another way you might approach this person’ and ‘Can you consider speaking less at your staff meetings?’ Mentors and coaches can help managers on the verge of leadership transition by assisting them in developing tangible, time-paced goals such as: ‘Give one presentation outside your group each month’ or ‘Delegate one new task each quarter’.

In both Betty and Tim’s cases, the most important changes involved not skills but values: what each believed was most important in their jobs, and how they allocated their time. Their experience urges us to consider the core principles of motivation, practice and feedback as the only means of inculcating a new way of being. With greater attention to leadership transition as a personal passage, organisations can improve their results in grooming their next generation of leaders.

Herminia Ibarra is the INSEAD chaired professor of organisational behaviour and area co-ordinator for the Organisational Behaviour Group. She received her MA and PhD from Yale University (USA), where she was a National Science Fellow. Prior to joining INSEAD, a leading international business school, based in France and Singapore, in 2002 she served on the Harvard Business School faculty for 13 years. She can be contacted at herminia.ibarra@insead.edu

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