DNA – Born to Lead
A great deal of thought and debate has centered on the question of leadership.
There are those who believe that leadership is a skill that one can learn and master. The others would argue that leadership is inherent, and part of your character and personality.
Well, according to new research out of the University College of London a genotype, called rs4950 appears to trace the link of leadership ability across generations. The study’s lead author, Dr. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (UCL School of Public Policy) suggests that “the conventional wisdom – that leadership is a skill – remains largely true, but we show it is also, in part, a genetic trait.”
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Slava Mikhaylov, Christopher T. Dawes, Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler. Born to lead? A twin design and genetic association study of leadership role occupancy.
So if that is the case, maybe we should give some consideration to altering our recruitment strategies and thinking about getting the DNA samples from prospective employment candidates. If we start to run the tests for rs4950 and find candidates on that basis, surely, we will develop a selection process that will lead to superior leaders and put our organization ahead of all of the others!
Given this finding we can now focus our attention on other more significant challenges that will improve the quality of life for all mankind!
WHOOOOOOA… not so fast Sherlock, we just might want to kick the tires a little more on this issue.
A recent Conference Board of Canada Study titled DNA of Leaders: Leadership Development Secrets looked at various elements of leadership development within various successful businesses.
It identifies a number of common elements which promote the development of leaders within organizations. If you would like to read the study more detail, it is available on the Conference Board of Canada website at www.cboc.ca
One of the biggest concerns respecting human capital amongst global companies is the issue of “internal talent growth/management”.
Sound familiar?
The study looked toward the leading companies (utilizing publications that included the top 25 companies for Leaders – Fortune Magazine; the 40 Best Companies for Leaders – Chief Executive Magazine; and Research conducted by the Hay Group listing the Best Companies for Leadership). Out of that pool of companies the researchers created a pool of 60 companies to test a series of questions respecting the elements of leadership development to determine what differentiated companies and aided in their business success.
Without spilling all of the juicy details from that study, we’re cutting right to the core and letting you in on some secrets of success for: Accenture, Caterpillar, Intel, Siemens, American Express, Coca Cola, Wipro, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Shell, BASF, McDonalds, etc…
Some of the common elements of the various internal talent development programs included; an ongoing commitment to experiential learning, providing controlled environments with simulations designed to gain valuable business insight, and a personal commitment from the senior leadership along with the corporate financial commitment to program development.
Taking some valuable lessons from this study we would like to offer our view of “how the rubber hits the road” type of observations and suggestions for local government.
The issue of talent development is an emerging challenge for local governments as they grapple with the question of baby boomer retirements and growing fiscal constraint. So for those organizations starting to think about putting together a strategy to deal with your future succession planning, here are OMLI’s suggestions:
- Operational Excellence – Keep your efforts focussed on continuous improvement which underscores the delivery of improved services (quality, efficiency and impact).
- Data Driven – Emerging talent should have a solid understanding on the importance of data as a means to evaluate program delivery and business success.
- Collaboration & Partnerships – In today’s constrained fiscal environment there needs to be a strong willingness to extend the outreach beyond your organization and to bring other stakeholders/partners into the operation for the sake of making improvements.
- Understanding the BIG picture – Don’t be afraid to engage and ask questions. Thinking beyond the traditional boundaries to see new and emerging practices that are taking shape and impacting the world we live in.
- Cross Functionality – Not just understanding what’s in the box but how the other boxes can come together. Having that broader picture helps build a perspective that is critical to a strong leader.
- Diversity – Both views and talent is becoming increasingly important for a well balanced team. “Groupthink” is real and can be dangerous to the lifeblood of any organization.
- Flexible & Adaptive – The one size fits all approach just doesn’t work. Be ready to demonstrate what you preach and don’t try to re-invent every wheel. Guess what? Chances are someone has already addressed the problem you are now facing.
- Risk – Understand the limits of your comfort zone (risk tolerance) but don’t stop until you reach it, then re-assess your risk and continue to reasonably push the limit.
- Values – Remember that the journey is a long one so having a solid platform to stand on will be critical for long-term success. Look at ways to align your approach to talent development with the values of your organization.
- Assessment – Be critical and learn from your mistakes. Seek to understand how certain changes could make failure into success. Make those changes and continue to re-evaluate your progress.
We hope that some of these considerations help to launch the changes you need to make in your talent development process but above all, remember to Celebrate Success!