Borderless offers six recommendations to establish robust leadership development programs:
- To build leadership programs, a balanced approach that focuses on business acumen and soft skills and understanding the interrelationships between these two elements is required.
- Top execs must be involved in leadership development, and accountability for it should be held by the CEO.
- Organizations must accelerate the development of less experienced executives to fill the emerging leadership gap, accentuated by aging executive populations in many “traditional” industries.
- Effective leadership development programs must be grounded in real-life challenges.
- Job rotation, which has the added advantage of creating higher levels of understanding and cooperation between functions, deserves higher priority if organizations are to develop executives with broad-based general management skills.
- If leadership development drives profitability and growth, then active engagement in leadership development should never be optional.