Reap What You Sow

Leadership at all levels is essential for organisations that want to thrive. Y et few businesses truly have leaders at every level, and even fewer have a systematic way to develop leadership talent.  Deloitte recently reported that while 86% of HR and business leaders rank leadership as a top issue, only 6% believe their pipeline is “very ready.”  The result is a staggering leadership gap.

In slower, more predictable times, command-and-control hierarchies worked well enough. Decisions moved up the chain, a small group of leaders deliberated, and instructions trickled back down.  But today’s marketplace is different.  Digitally wired, fast-moving, and fiercely competitive, it demands agility.  By the time a decision has moved through layers of hierarchy, the customer may have gone elsewhere and the opportunity lost.  With products and services increasingly indistinguishable, the winners are those that move faster powered by people ready to lead and act at every level.

Leaders At Every Level

Companies don’t act, people do.  The distinction between winning and lagging businesses lies in their ability to cultivate leaders everywhere.  At their best, leaders are constantly sensing change, exciting others about possibilities, and mobilising action.  Great leaders are also great teachers, shaping the culture by multiplying leadership capability in others.

Developing leaders requires a “teachable point of view.” This combines:

• The organisation’s values
• Its business ideas and plans
• How to energise people
• How to make the tough yes/no calls

With this, leaders can tell a compelling story of why change is needed, where the organisation is heading, and how to get there.  Stories inspire action, and bold action fuels lasting change.

The Common Pitfalls

Too often, companies funnel their brightest talent into narrow specialisms, sacrificing leadership development for functional excellence.  The result?  Brilliant experts who struggle to lead. Compounding this is the erosion of performance management, which tolerates poor behaviours and undermines accountability.  The default remedies of scattershot coaching or survival-of-the-fittest selection rarely restore the balance between performance and agility.

How Winning Companies Develop Leaders

Leadership development takes more than occasional workshops or well-meaning mentoring. It requires deliberate, focused effort that blends coaching, stretch assignments, and action learning.  Above all, it requires leaders who personally and actively develop others.  When given the right approach, and when rewarded for it, leaders will pass on their skills and multiply capability.

This is where HR has a pivotal role.  Not as administrators of quick fixes, but as partners helping leaders shape their teaching approach and embed leadership into daily practice.  The most effective HR functions act as cultural drivers, creating the mindset that leadership and teaching are inseparable.  Those that fail risk “applying lipstick to a pig” by polishing the surface while leaving the deeper problems untouched.

The Bottom Line

Organisations that reap the benefits of agility, performance, and resilience are those that sow leadership widely.  They understand that leadership is not a scarce commodity to be hoarded at the top but a renewable resource, grown and spread through deliberate teaching and active development. The companies that win today and tomorrow are those where leaders create more leaders.