You're a manager who wants to develop your team's leadership potential. How can you do it effectively?

Assessments have their place but most importantly is the timing of such assessments. Trigger change and then assess. Reshape the work environment, make it personal, make it meaningful, and then measure what matters!

Developing a team's leadership potential requires a strategic and supportive approach. Here's effective ways to do it, Identify leadership traits such as initiative, communication skills, problem-solving abilities, & willingness to take responsibility. Offer growth opportunities via challenging projects, assignments, or leadership roles that allow team members to stretch their abilities and gain valuable experience. Provide mentorship and coaching. Encourage continuous learning. Promote collaboration. Empower decision-making to team members & encourage them to take ownership of their projects & initiatives. Set clear expectations for leadership behavior & performance. Lead by example. Encourage risk-taking. Recognize and reward leadership.

Developing your team's leadership potential involves a multiple strategic avenues aimed at identifying, nurturing and empowering the leadership qualities within each team member. Identify Potential Leaders Assess Skills and Qualities: Look for individuals who demonstrate critical thinking, emotional intelligence, decision-making capabilities, and a proactive approach to problem-solving. Performance Reviews: Use performance appraisals to identify employees who consistently exceed expectations.

In addition to mentoring and coaching your team, it’s important to encourage your team to seek mentors outside the group as well. That outside perspective becomes helpful to point out things we may not see being so close, and may provide other opportunities to grow as a leader.

Offer Real-World Opportunities Lead Projects: Assign leadership roles in projects to give potential leaders hands-on experience. Cross-Functional Teams: Encourage participation in cross-functional teams to broaden their understanding of the business and enhance collaboration skills. Decision-Making Opportunities: Involve them in decision-making processes to build their confidence and judgment skills.

As a professional sports person you wouldn’t go out to compete in any game without your coach or caddie. And how is the profession of business and winning any different? A coach helps shift you and your teams from the know-it-all mindset to the learn-it-all mindset. And as the senior leader, embody the strap line - for things to change first I must change!

Foster a Culture of Leadership Encourage Initiative: Promote a culture where taking initiative and ownership is valued and rewarded. Recognition: Recognize and celebrate leadership achievements and contributions to encourage further development. Open Communication: Cultivate an environment of transparency where feedback is freely given and received.

Lead by Example Model Leadership: Demonstrate the qualities of good leadership through your actions. Your behavior sets a benchmark for aspiring leaders. Transparency in Leadership Decisions: Share the reasoning behind your decisions to provide learning opportunities.

I would understand the gaps, create a culture of collaboration and fair competition to achieve goals and giving all the support needed hence not only unearthing the real potential perhaps letting the real talent make it's way to the top.

A leadership culture implies a matrix approach to work, teams, report lines and culture. It’s old fashioned and tight. Why not think “helix” versus “matrix”? Matrix is all about hard lines and dot lines. What does it look like to build a helix organization with SPLIT lines where people report into two different leaders for two different purposes. This way you get lateral leadership but in an organic way.

The first step to galvanising your team(s), leaders and business is to address culture. Without culture the business of strategy is worthless. Remember culture eats strategy for breakfast. To do this you must vow to treat the “soft stuff” as the “hard stuff”. Put as much sweat into balancing people and the teams as you do into balancing the budget for example. Start by creating a habit of excellence no matter where you are in the company food chain.