You think you are a leader… Will the AI agree?
One of the challenges that all enterprise face is to identify the right leaders and build a robust leadership pipeline to secure the company’s future. For any organization that intends to stay in business long after the founders have retired or are gone, the worst nightmare is to have layers of mediocrity in its leadership and management team.
To prevent such a scenario, most of the organizations have one or more programs to identify and groom the next generation of leaders and managers through management and leadership development (MLD) programs. They institute leadership surveys at various levels of the organization to weed out the weaklings. The survey feedback is used to develop the ones that are willing to listen and change. Thousands of dollars are spent on building and maintaining the leadership pipeline. After all, it is a multi-billion-dollar industry!
Yet, case studies are full of examples of failed leadership and bad management. This in-spite of all the training, countless books and magazines devoted to the subject and people claiming to have devoured them all. This gap between investment and outcome is the CxO’s actual problem.
Here’s my hypothesis: The fundamental assumption that people rapidly change their inherent nature through training and feedback surveys is flawed. Yes, people improve and grow on an ongoing basis, but leadership and management are tested in situations that are rarely as simple as the ones tackled in classrooms. In such situations the individual’s inherent nature and values take over.
Artificial intelligence to the rescue!
Call it the Leadership leaderboard framework – an AI model that predicts how a person would act under pressures of the role will greatly improve the identification of individuals who have the tenacity and behavioral traits desired in leadership and management of the company. Yes, in my opinion, leadership and management is not a transferrable skill unless the corporate culture of the two companies is very similar.
The model should focus on individual’s actions in simulation (e.g. how does the person spend time at work) and similar other criterion vs. solely on the results delivered. I can guarantee you’ll find many surprises. If your succession plan is built entirely on 360 feedback and MBO (Management By Objectives) dashboards, it’s worth a second look before your next round of promotions.