The issue of course is how to ensure this happens and happens regularly. It seems logical that the professional development should be perhaps more frequent rather than a single event, once or twice a year. It should be planned, not a surprise to the staff involved and aligned to the organization’s plans. Often we talk about building leadership capacity but at its heart, we are really talking about building their adaptability capacity. According to a 2021 McKinsey Report by Jacqueline Brassey, Aaron De Smet, Ashish Kothari, Johanne Lavoie, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Sasha Zolley, there are four ways in which employers can build and create leadership adaptability.

Use bite-size training as practice.

The prevailing belief has been that deeper awareness and habit-shifting work was possible only through immersive in-person experiences. But as with so many other paradigms, the COVID-19 pandemic changed that view…We’ve seen this approach help companies undergoing upheaval. 

Create learning communities.

This helps create networks across the organization and a deeper sense of belonging, both of which support adaptability. 

Role model at all levels, including visible sponsors at the top.

Role model at all levels, including visible sponsors at the top. Virtual learning can help senior leaders connect meaningfully with more people faster. 

Create enabling mechanisms to build enduring capabilities.

To build adaptability into a skill that becomes part of the organization’s core, it’s important to track progress frequently and meticulously. 

By investing in measures that emphasize well-being, purpose, mindset shifts, deeper connections, and team learning, leaders become better equipped to meet the challenges ahead.

Brassey, J., De Smet, A., Kothari, A., Lavoie, J., Mugayar-Baldocchi, M., Zolley, S. (2021). Future Proof: Solving the ‘Adaptability Paradox’ for the Long Term. New York: McKinsey & Company.

There are of course a range of things that need to be undertaken from the ‘Get-Go’, for the accidental leader to have a chance of being successful.

• Take a breath before saying yes. Remember to ask clarifying questions.

• Gather key leaders to discuss, seek advice and formulate a plan forward. Share the responsibility.

• Meet with all staff via a staff meeting. Outline what has happened and the roadmap forward.

• As far as possible be a presence amongst staff to give a sense of ‘business as usual’.

• If the scenario that led to an accidental leader being appointed was due to health issues, ensure you reach out to the leader facing health challenges.

• Check-In at the end of each day with each of the other leaders, especially frontline leaders.

• If possible, seek support from your coach and / or leadership network.

It should be stressed that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list, rather an identification of the big rocks, the touch stones, that need to be encountered with some degree of immediacy. It may well help to establish the ‘accidental leader’ as the ‘hero leader’ as they embark on their journey to become a ‘breakthrough leader’. The notion of the ‘hero leader’ is not one of a self-serving individual but rather one for whom service to others is important. Lolly Daskal in her excellent book, ‘The Leadership Gap’, articulates well the ‘hero leader’ concept.

“The word hero is related to the Latin word servo, which means to serve. Great leaders aren’t just heroes; they’re also servants—to their people, their customers, their communities, and the world at large. People who think they are going to lead by demand or by hierarchy will lead only for a short time. But when you lead as a hero—with a servant heart—and you do so courageously, and with the goal of having people work toward something greater than themselves, you can accomplish any goals you set for yourself and your organization.”

Daskal, L. (2017). The Leadership Gap (eBook). New York: Portfolio / Penguin. Ch.5.

Returning to the quote at the start from Harry Potter, it should be crystal clear that in a healthy, well run, and well led organization, the statement of disbelief “but I’m just Harry” shouldn’t even come to mind. What is interesting, if you have seen the Harry Potter movies, is that Harry does indeed move from this disbelief to one of an increasing awareness of the call to serve others. He does this through the skills, knowledge and talents that he possesses and through the support and pooling of those skills, knowledge and talents with his closest friends and supporters. To do this though, Harry Potter and his friends undertake extensive schooling and learning, in order to take on the ‘hero leader’ role that he is called to. Stephen M. R. Covey, in his groundbreaking work ‘Trust & Inspire’, makes the observation that more than ever, we need to move away from a ‘Command and Control’ process as our standard mode of operating to one of trusting your team and inspiring them.

“A Trust & Inspire leader believes that there is greatness in everyone—every person on your team, every student in your class, every child in your home. Their intent is to develop and unleash that greatness while helping people see that greatness within themselves. What sets Trust & Inspire leaders apart is the way that they view people as fountains of greatness, brimming with potential. Because of that, they actively look for the greatness in people.”

Covey, Stephen M. R., with Kasperson, D., Covey, M., and Judd, G. T. (2022).  Trust & Inspire (eBook). London : Simon & Schuster UK Ltd. p76.

Clearly, our accidental leader, given the situation they find themselves in, needs to take control of the situation and most likely, need to be seen as taking control, for staff and stakeholders impacted by the situation at hand. Whilst this suggests a ‘Command and Control’ approach, the nature of the situation is likely to be such, that done well, it may inspire confidence in the staff and stakeholders and in the process build critical trust in the accidental leader. What this means for organizations, government and non-government, is straightforward. In hiring leaders, interview panels need to give consideration as to how the new leader might inspire staff and engender their trust. They should consider how the new leader might build the team and draw out the leadership abilities in others throughout the organization. Consideration should be given to the extent to which the new leader will undertake regular professional development and indeed ensure their team does as well, to build their leadership capacity and their leadership adaptability. Is the new leader, when asked to step up in a crisis as an accidental leader, likely to say “but I’m just Harry” or “I’m just Harry who is here to serve”? Scaled up across all leaders within the organization, the impact upon the organization and its effectiveness should be profound and build toward a promising future.

“The struggle of today, is not altogether for today — it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us.”

Abraham Lincoln First State of the Union Address (1861)

Abraham Lincoln, First Annual Message Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, “The American Presidency Project.”