A new report outlines how to build and nurture three key levels of leadership.
By Maggie Mancini
Effective leadership is vital to success at all levels of an organization. Executives are responsible for building company culture, setting an example for managers and employees, and steering the company toward its strategic goals. Although leaders are often less involved with day-to-day operations, nearly all employees feel that what executives do positively affects their work performance, engagement, and well-being, according to a report from Talogy. For Steph Noble, managing R&D consultant at Talogy and co-author of report, this demonstrates the impact that directors have on employees and the importance of organizations investing time and resources in their next generation of leaders.
“As a starting point, we would recommend providing opportunities for all leaders to develop a human-centered leadership style,” Noble says. “This includes a focus on behaviors that employees want their leaders to demonstrate, such as better communication, more autonomy, and to be more supportive. HR professionals must also offer more opportunities for current and future leaders to build the skills and mindset needed at each level.”
Talogy’s report identifies three key levels of leadership. Those in the first level typically manage a team within a particular business function and work to deliver key departmental objectives. Further up in the pipeline, mid-level leaders typically have direct reports who are managing their own teams and are responsible for overseeing an entire business function or division. At the top of the chain are senior leaders. These individuals typically lead major parts of the business or are members of the executive team. Rather than focusing on daily business operations, senior executives lead organizational strategy and success.
Noble adds that development programs should be tailored to each leadership level within an organization to make sure the content and context are relevant to participants, teaching them the right skills and providing them with the most useful knowledge for their future journey.
More specifically, Talogy’s research finds that leaders of all levels feel mentoring programs and individual coaching are in the top three most useful development opportunities that could be offered by organizations. Often, personalized opportunities are not provided to leaders, Noble says, due to lack of resources and financial implications.
“However, we believe that investment is crucial, and the value of successful leadership for productive, efficient, and profitable organizations should not be underestimated,” Noble says.
The report finds that one in five (20%) of employees frequently feel stressed or frustrated by their manager, which doesn’t enable effective performance. Noble says that leaders must value the unique talents and contributions of their employees to help minimize these feelings and increase engagement.
“This requires a leader to demonstrate behaviors that make each employee feel valued, trusted, and appreciated,” Noble says. “It requires authenticity and openness and is grounded in the principles of emotional intelligence. Leaders should consider how they make others around them feel and strive to improve the employee experience and organizational climate through generating positive emotion and feelings within their employees.”
To achieve this, Noble suggests that leaders:
- connect personally with employees to demonstrate inspiring and inclusive behaviors;
- develop their own self-awareness and reflect on past experiences; and
- use those connections and reflections to support employee engagement and well-being.
The study identifies several themes recognized by organizations as important at all levels of leadership: a growth mindset, interpersonal skills, organizational skills, and strategic perspective. These qualities and behaviors are important to determine whether leaders can cope with uncertainty and the changing demands they face, Noble says. More specifically, they enable effective communication, build positive relationships, and demonstrate the ability to empower and motivate others.
“Behavioral themes that are deemed important at first-level leadership remain just as important as leaders move up the pipeline, with added nuances and complexity,” Noble says. “This demonstrates the need for leaders to build on the basic foundations to become successful at every level. Our research can support organizations to recognize which behaviors are the most important at each level and can guide them in tailoring existing or new development programs. This will ensure they are targeting the development of the right behaviors at the right level.”
Although all levels may share many of the same broad challenges, there are still subtle differences in what is required of leaders at each level as they move up the pipeline, Noble says. These are important for organizations when considering successful transitions. Noble explains some of the main challenges associated with each level, as determined in the report.
- Moving into leadership as an individual contributor can be challenging. Noble says that there is an initial mindset change required to focus on delegating tasks and empowering others, appreciating individuals, and communicating expectations to team members. First-level leaders also face complexity in adapting to their new role and managing relationships with former peers.
- As leaders move up the pipeline, strategic thinking moves into focus. The second shift in mindset occurs as leaders learn to demonstrate and balance both strategic and operational capabilities, and those at this level have many audiences to communicate with. Noble adds that leaders must recognize the need to move away from the details and have a broader strategic focus.
- At the senior management level, fully embracing big-picture strategy is essential. Building and maintaining trust and providing clarity in communication are essential at this level, she says. Leading the organization involves stepping away from day-to-day management and embracing big-picture thinking, managing a greater breadth of relationships, and empowering managers and teams.
The report also finds that just 38% of leaders report feeling well-prepared to advance to the next level in the pipeline. This, Noble says, suggests organizations need to do more to support their leaders and guarantee successful transitions.
“We identified that behaviors and skills needed to succeed at various levels may differ and recommend that HR leaders integrate our findings into their future development programs,” Noble says. “Based on this, it is likely that organizations are not setting leaders up to succeed if they are not providing them opportunities to build the additional skills and make the mindset shift needed at each level.”
