LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN THE ORGANIZACION

The capabilities of a company’s executives are vital in getting results.  The direction, the energy and the right organization movements depend on them.  These skills are not learned in universities; however, they turn into a competitive advantage for the companies that are able to develop them.  The programs we offer in this field utilize state-of-the-art methodologies and are oriented towards developing an effective executive team able to place their organizations at the cutting edge.

Leadership Capabilities

Leadership refers to the skills that an executive has to inspire his/her team to take new challenges with enthusiasm, initiate changes and commit to a vision.  Some individuals have some of these capabilities naturally; however, the truth is that most executives are good managers who have not developed their leadership abilities.

In our increasingly globalized world, the companies that have true leaders have a very important competitive advantage.  These companies have the possibility to grow, adapt, and evolve much faster than those companies that lack true leaders.   The truth is  that leadership skills are relatively scarce.  Therefore, investing in leadership development is a way to position a company to face new challenges successfully.

To transform managers into leaders the following process is suggested:

• Understanding of the concept of leader and the abilities associated, based on a sound model

•  360-degree evaluation of participants to identify their current skills

• Identification of areas for development

•  Utilization of combined methods to develop the identified areas.  The development of these capabilities requires exercise and adjustments in order to be incorporated among the individual’s behavioral repertoires.

Management Capabilities

A manager is the executive in charge of ensuring that the company plans are executed effectively and efficiently.  He/she focuses his/her work on the day-to-day operation using different managerial processes aimed at doing his job through others.  Management skills, although theoretically learned in colleges, can only be developed in practice.

Companies need managers capable of ensuring advancement and results in their areas.  An important part of a unit’s contribution to a company’s results depends on the work of the manager.  For this reason, if a company sharpens management skills its results and productivity will improve.

The development of management skills follows a similar process to the development of leadership skills:

• Understanding of the concept of management along with the different capacities involved utilizing a sound model

• 360-degree evaluation for participants to identify their current skills

• Identification of development areas for each participant

• Utilization of a combination of methods to develop the identified areas, since they require exercise and adjustments to be incorporated among a manager’s behavioral repertoires

Personal Impact

Personal impact refers to an executive’s ability to communicate a positive and solid image to his/her different audiences including employees, superiors, customers, suppliers, business associations, and banks, among other audiences.  This image includes, among other aspects, the verbal capacity, the attire utilized, the solidness of ideas presented, and the energy transmitted.

The importance of having an executive team with a positive personal impact is straightforward.   The capacity to “sell” the company depends on the impact of its executives in their negotiations.  Having impactful executives is a competitive advantage that can open doors and reduce efforts and costs in many business situations.  It also helps position the company before its stakeholders.

The development of personal impact follows these phases:

• Definition of the desired success image

• Evaluation of the current image

• Identification of behaviors and skills to develop

• Ongoing developmental feedback

It is necessary to provide close coaching to participants, so that they can identify, correct, and adjust behaviors in the moment they occur.

Succession Planning

The most critical task of a leader is perhaps the development of other leaders.  That is precisely the purpose of succession planning.  Through it, the company makes sure that it will have the leadership and managerial capacities in the future.  Succession planning prepares the next executive generation who will lead the business, once the current leaders have moved to other positions or have retired.

Through succession planning, companies guarantee an available and capable successor ready to take on a leadership position when needed.  The impact is the avoidance of productivity decreases when an executive leaves and the elimination of costs associated to external searches.  As a byproduct, companies stimulate the internal executive careers and provide opportunities to committed employees.  In addition, companies avoid departmental crisis when an executive retires, fostering a smooth transition and the sustained business profitability.

The process followed to establish succession plans is the following:

• Identification of potential candidates that will become the new generation of leaders

• Analysis of the readiness level of each candidate

• Creation of succession tables to identify the areas where efforts should be focused for development

• Making of development plans for candidates visualized as likely successors

When the pre-work is complete for each executive, this process takes one day.  Subsequently, it is reviewed twice a year to ensure progress and development of succession candidates.