You’ve seen it happen countless times. An outstanding employee ascends to a leadership role only to flounder. Could a strong leadership development program help ambitious employees contribute to organizational success?

Why Promising Employees Need Leadership Development

Most business owners or CEOs don’t naturally excel in every skill that’s needed to deliver consistent success. Building a leadership team gives you access to talented people who have strengths that complement yours. And you can count on these team members to help you lead through times of crisis.

Most business owners promote employees who do exceedingly well at their jobs into leadership roles. Often, these new roles involve managing people. The skills needed to manage people are quite different from excelling in a technical area.

If you want these team members to succeed, you’ll need to provide training that’s tailored to their needs.

Selecting Your Leadership Team Through Assessment Data

A new study released by researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business sheds light on leadership appointment trends. Specifically, the researchers found that ambitious employees want the “power, status and financial rewards” that come with a leadership role. And these are the employees who often get these positions.

The researchers also found that these employees believe they perform well as leaders. Unfortunately, the employees they lead don’t agree. Many ambitious leaders, it turns out, are able to “unconsciously inflate their self-​perceptions of leadership effectiveness.”

The researchers suggest that corporate leaders check out other employees who may serve as more effective leaders. One solution is to ask your employees to take psychometric assessments that will yield insights into leadership potential. Specific traits are associated with strong leaders.

For example, leaders and managers must strive to set realistic goals, hold others accountable and stay focused on results. This is a big change from being a sole contributor. In a previous role, these employees often focused on optimizing their own results.

As you review assessment results, look for individuals who can get commitment to goals. Employees who are good at long range planning and who stay focused on goals also have strong leadership potential.

Not every individual is naturally gifted with leadership skills. But they can learn these skills through a leadership development program. It’s also not necessary to put all your leaders through the same development program.

Working one-​on-​one with them can result in more effective outcomes. Overwhelming trainees with too much information, some of which they may not need, leaves them feeling overwhelmed. Helping them focus on their areas of weakness will allow them to progress quickly.

The Best Leaders Balance Ambition with Humility

Countless stories and movies present ambitious corporate employees as protagonists to be championed. But these characters often experience a downfall.

In the real world, employees find humble leaders to be inspiring. These leaders aren’t afraid to admit their mistakes. They also don’t shy away from exposing their vulnerabilities.

In doing so, employees believe this type of leader is more authentic and relatable. In our ongoing research about sales professionals, here’s what some of them have said about their best managers:

• They were able to jump in and do the work — not just a manager but a do-er!

• The best manager I’ve had was great at communicating, owning up to their mistakes, and investing in me.

People remember their best managers with the same fondness as their favorite teachers.  They admire these individuals for helping them and for leading the organization. They understand that the best leaders balance ambition with humility.

Some individuals are born with natural leadership traits. The rest of us, with the help of a leadership development program, can learn what we need to know. But we must be willing to invest the time and energy to grow into those roles.

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