The Key to Successful Leadership

What you need to know to unlock your leadership potential

In this era of information and globalization, organizations are faced with stiff competition and an unprecedented need for change.  With the pressure to continue to operate profitably in tough economic times, high performing executives and managers are essential for organizational success.

The issues:

• A staggering 50 to 75% of organizational leaders are performing poorly in their jobs. (Hogan & Hogan, 2001)
• In spite of being talented and capable, many executives are failing in their jobs. (Burke, 2006)
• Organizations rely on leaders to propel them forward and ensure long-term organizational success.

The problem: How do we differentiate between effective and ineffective leaders?

The solution: Competencies. Leadership competencies provide a mechanism to differentiate between effective and ineffective leaders, and a targeted means to develop highly effective leaders.

So what does this mean for an organization?

There are a number of ways that an organization can use leadership competencies to ensure success of their leaders, and consequently of their organization as a whole.

1. Leadership competencies can be used to develop an effective system for selecting effective, high-performing executives and managers.
2. Leadership competencies can be used in performance management; competencies provide benchmarks against which to assess leader’s performance.
3. Competencies can be used to build training and development programs - to increase knowledge, skills and abilities of high-potential managers and executives.
4. Leadership competencies can be used for succession planning – to determine which skills and qualifications will be needed for important positions in the future and which high-potential managers will be best candidates to take over those positions.

According to practitioners, organizations are increasingly investing in the development of leadership competency models and using these models to assess current managers, identify high-potential leaders, evaluate managers’ performance, and develop current managers into strong leaders (Klemp, 2008).

Download the complete whitepaper to see what abilities, skills and knowledge translate into effective leadership.