Developing Future Leaders - Assignment Example

These factors, and others, have contributed to a shortage of quality leaders coming through the ranks. At the current pace, this article points to the reality that many fear there will be a shortage of leadership talent in the coming decades that could be quite dire.

Brown advocates implementing procedures now to locate, secure, and properly train future leaders. This begins with the idea that all existing managers become talent scouts. To effectively accomplish this task, managers must then be given tools that enable them to develop the talent that they do find. This is a type of grooming that is sorely lacking today in corporate America. It involves giving ‘new talent’ opportunities to practice newly developed skills. They should also be given opportunities that allow them to complete special projects or rotations to get their feet wet and get a taste of what being an effective leader entails. During this entire process, the managers of today should be providing emotional support and encouragement to newly acquired talent, in addition to providing them with constructive feedback designed to facilitate further growth and improvement.

It is certainly plausible to consider that a looming talent gap exists at some point shortly, should current trends not reverse themselves. As this synopsis effectively points out, it seems that too many managers today are not concerned with training quality new leaders to one day take over the reins of various departments within an organization or even to rise to through the executive ranks themselves at some point in the future. Rather, the focus seems to be on maintaining their job security and well-being, as opposed to looking out for the best long-term interests of the organization as a whole.  With this in mind, then, it is important to be constantly looking for ways to attract, recruit, train, and maintain a quality staff that will take on larger leadership roles in the future. This is similar to college athletics. The teams that dominate year in and year out are not satisfied with the current ‘winning’ season. They constantly have one eye pointed towards the future and are actively recruiting the ‘new’ team of the future. As it should be with any successful business or public entity.

The organization that is effective today is likely there because of its structure of leadership. Such personnel, however, will one day depart the agency and leave a leadership gap unless steps are put into place to make sure there are people already trained and ready to take their place. This is critical. A sudden retirement or loss of talent can leave an organization scrambling for answers. To combat this reality, Brown (2011) purports that, “In today’s environment, leaders need to accelerate the preparation of a pool of qualified successors for any level of their organization” (p. 95). This certainly appears to be a valid assumption, not only because of the growing numbers of current leaders set to retire in the near term but also due to the increasing globalization existing in the world today.

America no longer holds a monopoly on strong leadership. There is fierce competition being waged today for the best and brightest of talent that will usher in a new generation of leaders that can take existing organizations to the next level. Because of this, American entities and interests certainly need to step up their recruiting practices to keep moving progressively and forward to maintain their competitive advantage in the marketplace. This needs to occur sooner rather than later, so existing managers would be wise to heed this advice and begin seeking out qualified individuals that are ready to push through into the ranks of solid leadership. Upon doing this, organizations will be well-positioned to weather the impending storm of retirements and attrition. Read More