Scout internally
Though she heads an executive search firm that specializes in finding the best external talent for its clients, von Seldeneck says she is completely in favor of internal promotions whenever the situation allows.
Internal candidates will, in all likelihood, possess a high level of familiarity with your culture, core values and organizational goals. If anything, an external search for management talent might solidify your belief that an internal hire is the best way to go.
“My personal feeling is that if you have a person internally who meets all of your criteria for a given position, you ought to think long and hard before you don’t go that way,” she says. “There is always less risk internally because you know the internal candidates. They’ve most likely been tried and tested, and any time you bring in someone from the outside, there might be a potential huge upside and reward but there is also risk that is going to be present. You like to know what you’re getting with an outside hire, but you don’t always know. There is always room for surprises.”
In order to have a pool of management and executive candidates within your company, you need to build a system for developing and
evaluating them. Some leadership traits, like an outgoing personality, are innate, but even the most charismatic leaders need coaching.
Formalized leadership training programs are well-developed among larger companies that can draw on a wealth of resources. But if your company is a little smaller and doesn’t possess the resources of an organization of thousands, it’s still an issue for which you need to find a solution.
“A lot of larger companies now have career path counseling and very comprehensive developmental programs for future leaders,” von Seldeneck says. “But a lot of other companies don’t, and a lot don’t even think about it or know how to go about setting up a program. If you’re a smaller entity, it’s still something you need to do. The whole idea of training leaders is an area that needs more attention in business overall.”
You can start by taking the initiative yourself and encouraging others in your organization to do the same.
“If you’re a younger leader, you can start taking your education into your own hands,” she says. “There are a lot of good seminars and programs, a lot of good books on the subject that are out there. You need to get out among other businesspeople at events and start networking. Don’t rely on your company alone to do that. There is a lot of information and knowledge out there and a lot of people out there who can help in your development. With the Internet, there is so much accessible information nowadays that allows you to take a lot more initiative.”
Whether you are a younger executive climbing the ladder or an older executive looking to groom younger leaders, communication is an essential element of good leadership and should be an area of focus in any type of internal leadership training.
You need to teach your up-and-coming leaders good communication skills while they are still a ways down the corporate ladder. If they’ve made it to a level of the company where they are addressing large numbers of employees or even speaking with the media, that is a bad time to have to learn on the fly.
“You don’t necessarily want to be learning this on the job if you’re a senior manager,” von Seldeneck says. “Particularly with regard to media communications, you want to make sure that the candidate you hire has experience in that area. As with team-oriented skills, you want to hear during the interview process of specific examples of what worked and what didn’t work and what they learned from it.”
You have to stay vigilant when it comes to communication training. There is no secret to it beyond repeatedly hammering away on developing the qualities of a good communicator in your leaders.
“Good communicators need to have self-confidence, but not arrogance, along with a dose of humor and a willingness to stay well-informed on what is affecting your company,” von Seldeneck says. “And you have to admit when you don’t know something. That is really a virtue.
“In communication, as with many other aspects of leadership, experience can oftentimes be the best teacher. You want to find people who learned from any mistakes they made. Many of the most successful people I know have been through hard times, made mistakes, learned from it, and have become better people and better leaders. When you sit down with them, they can recognize and admit the mistakes they’ve made and communicate the value they received from it.”
How to reach: Diversified Search Odgers Berndtson, (215) 732-6666 or www.diversifiedsearch.com
