Carolyn Mozell is the founder and CEO of Leaders Who Connect and Inspire LLC and knows firsthand how transformative it can be when leaders and employees treat each other with mutual respect, kindness, and a genuine desire to see each other succeed. Carolyn served in some of the highest levels of local government leadership for over 25 years. Rising from executive assistant to deputy chief, she also knows that leadership is a privilege. Now, Carolyn leverages her direct experience advising elected officials, cabinet level leaders and activating diverse high performing teams to help leaders in business, nonprofit organizations and government agencies do the same.
Leadership bench strength refers to the quality, competence and number of employees in an organization ready to fill vacant leadership positions in order to maintain performance and business success. Having a strong leadership bench is not only critical for a successful organization, but it’s also important to its longevity. If you don’t have a plan to strengthen your leadership bench, you may be putting the future growth of your organization and your leadership legacy in jeopardy.
Is your organization ready to be ready?
If a position became vacant today, are there quality and qualified employees in the pipeline to fill it? Qualified, meaning having the technical expertise and skills needed. Quality, meaning having skills such as communication and emotional intelligence capabilities. This combination creates a well-rounded leader who can successfully guide a team through a variety of challenges. If you answered no, and are unsure what steps to take next, here’s a tip: Rotate leaders to be in charge when you’re out of the office. Not only do they use their expertise, but they get to develop the leadership skills necessary to get work done through others.
Here’s an example: if you manage a team of directors, assign each of them a month to be in charge on a rotational basis when you’re out for a conference, vacation or anything else that physically takes you away from the office. In your absence, the director in charge becomes the onsite point of contact. This helps the organization serve its internal and external customers without interruption, helps directors to hone their leadership skills and helps both of you identify areas of improvement for leadership development.
How do I know this? I successfully equipped leaders under my direction using this method during my 20+ years as a government leader. As a result, some are prominent leaders in their profession and others lead their own organizations. They have the tools they need to effectively build a strong leadership bench to meet the future growth of their organizations.
4 essential questions leaders should ask
Leaders should strive to be consistent about conducting one-to-one meetings so they can build trust and help their team feel supported. Use these four essential questions monthly or quarterly to informally observe and track leadership potential until more formal strategies are deployed, such as administering assessment tools and engaging the expertise of a consultant.
Use a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest to rank each question. Then, make notes to reflect where you feel the employee is strong and where improvement is needed. Use this information to determine the best next step for informing their leadership development plan.
Here’s what you need to observe during the one-to-one meeting and ask yourself afterwards:
Are they a self-motivated strategic thinker and contributor?
Are they a tactical, tactful and thoughtful action taker?
Are they accountable and achieve results consistently and timely?
Are they a resilient, respectful and responsive team player?
Leaders must remain steadfast about creating a quality and qualified leadership bench. When organizations have a strong leadership bench, they are better positioned to reduce turnover, attract talent and create a positive workplace culture. A win-win-win for organizations, employees and its customers.
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