How Leaders Create More Leaders: Best Practices for Developing Future Talent

Strong leaders are essential for organizational success. But great leaders go a step further – they actively work to develop future leaders to take the reins. Leadership pipelines are crucial for growth, innovation and long-term viability. Without intentional focus on mentoring and empowering emerging leaders companies risk leadership gaps or stagnation.

Fortunately, there are proven techniques successful leaders employ to create robust pipelines of leadership talent. Here are the top ways leaders can help cultivate future leaders within their organizations:

Lead by Example

The most fundamental way leaders create more leaders is by modeling the behaviors, mindset and values they want to see replicated. Employees closely observe managers to learn how to act. If you exemplify the leadership qualities you hope to impart – integrity, strategic thinking, accountability, persistence and more – your team will follow suit. Leading by example prompts unconscious modeling.

Specifically, great leaders demonstrate:

• Integrity They walk the talk keeping promises and exemplifying the ethics and principles they espouse. Employees notice when words and actions align.

• Accountability: They take responsibility for outcomes and don’t pass the buck. Blaming others breeds distrust and a lack of confidence.

• Decisiveness: They make tough calls even with imperfect information, avoiding analysis paralysis. Employees learn how to make timely, confident decisions.

• Adaptability: They readily evolve strategies based on changing conditions and new data. This shows teams how to flexibly respond to uncertainty.

• Persistence: They tenaciously work through challenges that arise on the path to goals. Seeing leaders persevere instills grit and resilience.

• Strategic Thinking: They focus on long-term objectives and assess decisions accordingly. This helps employees take a broad perspective.

• Self-Awareness: They know personal strengths and limitations, using self-reflection to improve. This models openness to feedback, crucial for growth.

Lead by example first and foremost if you want to develop strong leaders. Your behaviors directly impact how emerging talent acts.

Provide Developmental Assignments

Hands-on experience is one of the best ways people build leadership capabilities. Developmental assignments give high-potential employees the opportunity to take on new challenges they haven’t faced before.

Effective leaders intentionally create these stretch assignments to expand the skills of promising talent. Examples include:

• Spearheading a new initiative: Give aspiring leaders responsibility for launching a pilot project or program, allowing them to manage strategy and execution.

• Tackling a turnaround: Assign emerging leaders to underperforming areas of the business to transform operations.

• Managing a change effort: Put a potential leader in charge of ushering in a new system, process or technology. Change management is great training.

• Expanding scope: Increase employees’ authority and oversight into new domains to grow management experience.

• Presenting to executives: Have up-and-comers deliver key presentations to senior leadership, testing communication abilities.

• Rotational programs: Move high-potentials through different departments and roles to build cross-functional knowledge.

• Overseeing a budget: Handing P&L responsibility to promising employees teaches financial management skills.

Monitor employees during developmental assignments, providing feedback and support. But allow them autonomy to lead, make some mistakes, and learn from the experiences.

Initiate Mentoring and Coaching

Partnering rising talent with more experienced leaders who can mentor and coach them is a cornerstone of leader development. The insights and guidance from someone further along in their career is invaluable.

Effective mentoring and coaching relationships:

• Build confidence: Emerging leaders gain assurance in their abilities through the mentor’s encouragement.

• Impart wisdom: Mentors share hard-won lessons and expertise from their own career journeys.

• Provide feedback: Honest input about strengths and developmental needs gives clarity.

• Offer exposure: Mentors connect mentees to senior leaders and influential networks.

• Supply support: Mentors give counsel during challenges and help remove roadblocks.

• Spark reflection: Powerful questions and discussions drive development.

Don’t just tell employees you’re available if they ever need guidance. Proactively develop mentoring relationships, be a thought partner, and give targeted feedback to accelerate growth.

Conduct Regular Check-Ins

Check-ins provide a cadence for leaders to connect one-on-one with emerging talent, assess progress, exchange perspectives, and sustain alignment. Consistent check-ins create a space for leaders to:

• Offer recognition: Acknowledge accomplishments and contributions that may otherwise go unnoticed. Recognition motivates.

• Supply feedback: Share real-time praise and constructive criticism to refine skills.

• Discuss development: Have forward-focused conversations about growth opportunities and how to seize them.

• Build trust: Check-ins demonstrate you’re invested in employees’ growth and want to partner with them.

• Address concerns: Employees can raise issues and feel heard, stopping small problems from growing.

• Share knowledge: Wisdom and insights can be imparted in an ongoing way.

• Review goals: Check-ins provide accountability and guidance on aligning efforts.

• **Learn: **Leaders gain exposure to new perspectives when employees share openly.

Check-ins show rising stars you’re committed to their development. Have regular one-on-ones before issues arise.

Send Employees to Formal Training

While on-the-job learning is crucial, formal training delivers leadership knowledge and skills quickly and efficiently. Send emerging leaders to:

• Leadership conferences: Exposure to industry experts provides new models.

• Learning academies: Internal multi-day programs focused on leadership competencies.

• University programs: Advanced degrees in management expand capabilities.

• Online courses: Digital learning offers flexibility and scalability.

• Workshops: Immersive sessions focused on specific leadership skills.

• Books: Reading canonical leadership works provides frameworks.

• Assessments: 360 reviews, DISC profiles, and assessments build self-awareness.

• Coaches: 1:1 coaching develops emotional intelligence and presence.

Classes and programs complement real-world experience. Formal training gives structured knowledge leaders can apply immediately.

Encourage Job Shadowing

Job shadowing lets emerging leaders directly observe seasoned executives in action, learning by example. The benefits include:

• Demystifying leadership: Seeing day-to-day realities removes misperceptions.

• Building strategic perspective: Future leaders absorb high-level thinking and decision-making.

• Understanding leadership styles: Direct observation shows varying approaches.

• Gaining executive exposure: Relationship building with upper management.

• Boosting networks: Shadowing connects employees to new colleagues.

• Generating ideas: Exposure sparks new ways of thinking to apply in one’s own role.

• Fuelling motivation: Inspires emerging leaders to advance to bigger roles.

Job shadowing provides behind-the-scenes insights into leadership. Let high-potentials shadow executives to accelerate growth.

Create Leadership Pools

Leadership pools or talent pools formalize the process of developing future leaders. Steps include:

• Identify high-potentials: Use performance data, skills assessments, interviews and nominations to select pool candidates. Look for aspiration, ability, engagement and learning agility.

• Group into pools: Organize high-potentials into pools based on capabilities and management level targeted – manager, director, VP, etc.

• Develop pools: Design leadership curriculums, mentoring programs, stretch assignments and other growth opportunities tailored to each pool.

• Track progress: Use competency models, skill matrices, and regular reviews to benchmark progress and adjust development areas.

• Graduate leaders: Transition pool members into greater responsibilities as they demonstrate readiness. Replace graduated leaders with new rising talent.

Leadership pools provide visibility into the talent pipeline and allow customized programs to develop cohorts.

Promote from Within

Your leadership bench will remain empty if rising stars continually leave because advancement paths are blocked. Prioritize promoting from within and filling open management roles with top internal talent.

Promoting from within:

• Motivates performance: Employees work harder when they see paths to progress.

• Builds loyalty: Internal promotions increase retention and commitment.

• Leverages institutional knowledge: Long-tenured workers know systems and culture.

• Saves costs: Existing employees require less training than external hires.

• Encourages development: Employees will invest more in growing capabilities.

• Enhances culture: Homegrown leaders reinforce values.

Publicize role openings internally and proactively identify qualified candidates. Make internal mobility a priority.

Be a Talent Magnet

Ultimately, you want your organization to attract leadership superstars from the external market too. Become a talent magnet by:

• Strengthening your brand: Showcase your leadership development opportunities to draw interest.

• Offering competitive pay: Compensate leaders fairly to prevent flight risk.

• Tapping networks: Lever