Leaders come in many varieties. Within your ranks, you have young achievers who show promise as high-potential future leaders. You have seasoned staffers who are leaders in key managerial roles, and may be on track to take their leadership even further. You have C-suite executives with organization-wide influence. You have leader-like individuals at all levels, regardless of title or followers. And, of course, you have the ultimate leader: your CEO or president.

So when you consider your organization's approach to leadership development, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Traditionally, top performers are promoted and expected to become good leaders—despite no formal leadership training. A top producer may understand sales, but that doesn't translate into understanding what a leader must do around articulating a vision, aligning people around that vision, executing strategy, fostering innovation and successful collaboration.

Leadership development by trial and error slows down your organization and frustrates your people. While that seems obvious, we still find a glaring lack of formalized, ongoing leadership training in the industry.

Teaching future leaders the skills of a strong leader puts them in a better position to lead your organizations into the future, to become catalysts to your ongoing growth—whether or not they become your next CEO. Developing them as strong leaders keeps them engaged in your organization for the long term.

Among your emerging leaders is likely the next-in-line CEO. Your organization may be years away from needing to address your succession plan; but if your current CEO is 2 to 5 years away from retiring, the process already should be well under way.

National studies and our experience shows that most CEOs come from producer roles. Traditionally, a high-performing producer is promoted through the ranks and learns leadership skills on the job.

Today's market is too volatile for on-the-job leadership training. A more formal process ensures an emerging leader grasps the skills and qualities needed to handle the role of CEO.

By bringing emerging leaders together with successful CEO mentors, DBH's Emerging Leader Groups program provides the skills and mentorship that seeds the growth of future leaders. Emerging Leader Groups are designed and categorized for different varieties of leaders, whether they are your high potentials or have been tapped for next CEO. Learn more by visiting dbhconsulting.com/impact.

Special Reports /

The Multi-Faceted Path to Leadership

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