Christmas seems a distant memory, but the children and I were watching Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows, when the words of Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School set my mind racing about the next generation of leaders and the responsibility we have as HR professionals to prepare them for the challenges ahead. Recollects Graham White, HR Director at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.” Dumbledore's words ring true. Today's leaders are not tomorrow's leaders. Over the next few years those in charge of our organisations now will have retired, moved on or been replaced with a whole new set of leaders. Regardless of the reason, the leadership picture of our organisations will be different and if we in HR genuinely care about the impact this will have on our workforce we need to ensure that our new leaders “take up the mantle… and wear it well”. If we care about the long-term effectiveness of our organisations we need to be looking among the next generation to see who can take up the mantle of leadership and give them the early coaching and experience they need to lead well.
We need to discover early who are best suited to power. This is an important challenge for us and to deliver this we need to know what tomorrow's leaders look like today. I believe they are idealistic because I was idealistic when I was in their shoes. They won't have had their first big humbling failure yet. They will have all the answers and will be quick to give their opinion. They believe they are always right, as I did. The only problem is they haven’t worn the shoes of leadership long enough to really know how it feels to get it wrong. I still remember my own first major failure. I was addressing an employee relations issue and on the cusp of achieving success, I decided to press my victory too hard. My Chief Executive tried to advise me, but I was having none of it and set back our employee relations strategy by at least six months. Once our future leaders get a few good failures under their belts, they’ll be all the wiser. I am always impressed with new, idealistic leaders; they stretch me, and they challenge my thinking. They remind me of myself and that Chief Executive who never said to me “We don’t do it that way here.”
When we blend the wisdom and experience of a seasoned leader with the enthusiasm and idealism of a new leader we create a recipe for greatness. I believe they are raw and unpolished because I was raw and unpolished. When my children were still young I worked for a multi-sited organisation that had locations throughout the UK. One of the depots was near Stoke on Trent. In that job I recall trying to address a performance management issue with the tack of a bull elephant and suffered the consequences however the MD had faith in me seeing beneath the muddy exterior. New leaders can be raw and unpolished. It’s easy to judge them early and reject them for their lack of discernment and discipline. But those who invest development time and energy into unpolished potential discover strong leaders who go on to be trusted and empowered.
I believe they’re unproven because I was unproven. Future leaders don’t have much of a track record. Their experience is minimal and not well-rounded. They may have a success or two, but it's never clear if they can repeat it. However, they do have motivation, ideas, gifts and strengths that make them a powerhouse of positive energy. This means we need to spot potential not ability. When we invest in our future leaders we not only help them build their character and competency we also help them establish their leadership credibility. The challenge for us is not easy but we need to develop tomorrow's leaders today. This means we may get it occasionally wrong but we need to shape them immediately rather than eventually. We need to give them the same opportunities that were given to us while their minds are still mouldable and impressionable. I leave the last word to Dumbledore “The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
