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Page 1: RBL Institute Next Generation Leaders: What Really Works ...rblip.s3.amazonaws.com/Institute/institute_white_papers/10.13 Next... · Next Generation Leaders: What Really Works in

Next Generation Leaders | TheRBLGroup ©2013 1

Next Generation Leaders:What Really Works in Their DevelopmentJOE GROCHOWSKI , & KEITH LAWRENCETHE RBL INSTITUTE | MINI FORUM WHITE PAPER | OCTOBER 2013

Participating RBL Institute Members:

Tina Kao, BASF | Emily Riggs, Campbell Soup Company | Laura Fuentes, Hilton Worldwide | Shawna Erdmann, Intel | Kelly

Opheim, Mondeléz International | Isabel Matthews, Novartis | Hilary Farrar, PwC | Christine Merminod, Rio Tinto | Madelynn

Macur Brousil, Walgreens

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Developing the next generation of leadership is critical to

organizational success and sustainability. One seminal piece

of research found that differences in executive leadership

accounts for as much as 45 percent of organizational

performance. However, many companies are struggling with

how to develop leaders effectively. Turnover rates are high,

in particular among leaders who join organizations at senior

levels. Replacements for the aging baby boomers are in short

supply within several industries and specialty skill areas.

Having sufficient numbers of skilled leaders to meet future

business needs is routinely identified among CEOs as one of

their most significant (and worrisome) challenges.

RBL’s Top Companies for Leaders research (conducted in

partnership with AonHewitt and Fortune Magazine in 2012)

is the most comprehensive, global research on leadership and

talent. Findings from this research highlight the importance

of developing leaders and building leadership capability

throughout your organization. Below is a brief summary of

some findings from the Top Companies for Leaders research,

which link to many of the member practices shared during our

discussion.

Top Companies for Leaders build leadership capability by:• Developing leaders to strengthen both fundamental and

differentiating competencies.

• Investing at all levels in the organization.

• Creating more developmental options for employees and

greater customization than other companies, including

more high-impact experiences (leaders as teachers, talent

mobility, simulations, external experiences).

Top Companies for Leaders create a reliable pipeline of future leaders, boosting individuals strategically through the organization by:• Dedicating resources to succession management practices.

• Agressively managing succession plans, linking them to

organizational needs, and including a broader and diverse

pool of potential candidates in the succession plans.

• Actively working to generate the largest possible pool of

potential candidates by going deeper into the organization.

• Including external talent pools and diversity goals in

succession plans.

KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED

During this call we explored what really works in the

development of future generations of leaders by addressing

two key questions:

1. How is your company defining what is required (skills,

experiences, attributes, etc.) for future leaders to be

successful in your firm?

2. What best practices are you using to accelerate the

development of your leadership bench strength?

INSIGHTS FROM THE DISCUSSION

• Have a clear agreement on what leaders must do to be

successful in your organization.

• Deploy a wide array of development experiences (on-the-job,

education, and life experience) to build the desired skills and

knowledge.

• Pinpoint what specific individuals need to maximize their

growth through personalized development plans.

• Focus on developing leaders at all levels of the organization.

RBL Institute

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Next Generation Leaders | TheRBLGroup ©2013 2

DEFINING THE SUCCESSFUL LEADER

Each company on the call shared their perspective on what

it takes to be a successful leader within their respective

organizations. Defining the competencies, skills, and

attributes of a successful leader is something all organizations

do. There are lots of competencies, but competency

models seem to be very similar. If we took your leadership

competency model and took the name off and put it on

the wall, we probably couldn’t guess which company is

represented.

RBL’s research on leadership competencies found that 60–70

percent of leadership competency models consist of the

“same stuff,” regardless of company size, industry, public sector,

private sector, etc. RBL refers to this as the Leadership Code.

These are the leadership fundamentals that are common

across all organizations. (Figure 1)

The remaining 30-40 percent of leadership competencies

are unique to each organization. RBL refers to this as the

Leadership Differentiators. It’s what makes your leadership

distinct from others. (Figure 2)

During the call each member company shared how their

organizations think about leadership and the competencies,

skills, and attributes of successful leadership.

Figure 1. Leadership Code: Summary

Figure 2. Leaders must nail the fundamentals as well as what makes our leaders unique

LEADERSHIP CODE(COMMON)

LEADERSHIP DIFFERENTIATORS

Leadership FundamentalsTop Companies have more of the leadership fundamentals repre-sented in their competency model (86% vs. 70%).

Leadership DifferentiatorsTop Companies are more likely to emphasize differentiating compe-tencies (88% vs. 69%).

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• Campbell Soup Company looks at leadership from two

dimensions. First they look at the individual and identify

what a future leader needs to get ready for their next pivotal

role in the organization. For example, the ability to lead

through ambiguity, the ability to connect globally, and the

ability to manage cross functionally are just a few of the

attributes Campbell’s looks for in their leaders. Second,

they look at leadership from the organizational perspec-

tive. This entails looking to the future needs of the business

and the implications for leaders across the entire organiza-

tion. Campbell’s is currently focused on leaders who have

a strong customer focus. They are also carefully studying

what the organization needs to be high performing organi-

zation that is proactively creating the future.

• Hilton Worldwide starts with identifying the current

and future business needs and works backward from

there in defining the qualities and experience that leaders

need, from both a collective and individual perspective.

Successful leaders at Hilton must demonstrate some of the

following skills: an enterprise-wide mindset, the ability to

work broadly across the organization, develop group-wide

systems, experiences working in both the corporate office

and in the field, the ability to drive consumer value, build

capability, and be effective stewards of the global culture.

Hilton also seeks leaders who can “hold steady” during

uncertain times. Their leaders need to be ready for new

opportunities and challenges while staying the course,

which requires strength and resilience.

• Intel has adopted a competency-based model for

leadership and is using it broadly throughout the company.

Some of the competencies include knowing the marketplace,

being able to effectively commercialize, developing the

people in your organization, etc. Internal consultants

meet with executives to draft development plans that are

specifically tailored to the individual, their strengths, as well

as the business they are in. They are also leveraging the

field of neuroscience to help drive behavior changes and

make behavior changes “stick.”

• Mondeléz International (spun off from Kraft Foods a year

ago) also has a leadership competency model that is closely

linked to the business strategy. They have identified seven

“leadership imperatives” that define what they expect every

leader “to do” to execute against the business strategy and

these leadership imperatives map to competencies that can

be developed. In addition, they have defined experiences

that leaders ideally should have, such as working globally in

developed and developing markets..

• Novartis has three key elements that frame their definition

of a successful leader:

1. Functional competence and experience: defined by job

families, breadth of roles undertaken, and experience

across different geographies and market types.

2. A comprehensive leadership framework, outlining the

attributes required to successfully “lead” in three core

areas: “self, team, and business.”

3. Values and behaviors: embodying the way they want to

work together at Novartis.

• Rio Tinto has a strong foundation for leadership that

includes a defined set of competencies and the values of

the organization. It is tailored to the specific needs of the

business. There is a strong focus today on building business

acumen, leadership agility and resiliency, the ability to

operate in a complex environment, and learning from the

unknown in both developed and developing markets. There

is recognition at Rio Tinto that much of what we learn

comes from the unknown, experiential learning, and learning

from peers.

• Walgreens has a three-point company strategy and a

supporting five-pillar leadership model. The pillars focus on

operations/business leadership, customer leadership, people

leadership, and their brand competency, Healthy, Happy,

Creating Value Together. Under these pillars, there are

competencies such as:

° Adocating customer focus

° Thinking strategically

° Innovating & taking prudent risks

° Building talent

° Executing with excellence

Their working definition for executing with excellence

includes operating successfully in the cross-functional

matrix. This includes influencing others, collaboration,

managing conflict, and creating high performing teams

as well as self-management or EQ and understanding the

perspectives of the customer, the enterprise, and the cross-

functionality of everyone’s work.

• BASF recently rolled out a new global competency

model aligned to their ‘We Create Chemistry’ business

strategy. The model includes eight competencies that

apply to all their 100,000 employees. Everyone is viewed

through the same eight competencies. Leaders must

not only demonstrate the eight competencies but they

must also be able to develop those competencies among

their teams. BASF identifies potential future leaders by

assessing their current performance as well as their learning

agility - thriving and exceling in complex, ever-changing

environment.

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DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF

LEADERS

Every company uses a wide-range of HR practices and tools

to build their bench of next generation leaders. Many of the

tools used to strengthen the leadership bench are the same

across companies, but RBL’s Top Companies for Leaders

research found that Top Companies have a bigger menu

of leadership development options and have aligned them

with shared leadership expectations. These development

options generally fall into three areas: on-the-job experience,

education, and life experience. Morgan McCall at the Center

of Creative Leadership created a simple formula for leadership

development called the “70/20/10” model. The RBL Group’s

formula for development is 50/30/20 (see Figure 3 below).

Regardless of which formula or model you use, the point is

to provide your leaders a blended mix of on-the-job learning,

education, and life experiences to advance their careers.

Below are some examples of the programs in place to develop

leaders shared by Institute members.

• Accelerating leadership development at Campbell Soup

Company is “from the ground up” and is based on the

belief that building the bench (increasing readiness) is

specific to the individual and the role the individual is

being developed for. The approach is very focused on high

potential employees who are poised to take on greater

© The RBL Institute!November 2012 / Leadership Sustainability!

3!    Formula for development: 50–30–20

50% 30% 20% ON-THE-JOB •  Job assignments •  Special projects •  Supported by

one-on-one coaching and internal coaching/ mentoring

EDUCATION •  Internal training •  Development as

learning solutions •  External degrees /

continued education

LIFE EXPERIENCE •  Business or

industry HR positions

•  Community involvement

•  External mentors and networks

•  Self learning

Figure 3. Formula for Development: 50/30/20

responsibility. They look closely at:

° The context of the role and subsequent capabilities the

employee is being developed for.

° What the person needs with respect to development (as

determined through assessments such as Hogan, 360

feedback, career interviews, etc.).

° The use of ongoing coaching (both internal and external

coaches).

Campbell’s is also committed to building leadership capability

across the organization and at every level. They have several

programs that build skills and competencies that are both

open enrollment and targeted development. For instance,

there is a session based on an internal leadership model. In

another example, there are targeted experiences such as the

Women’s Leadership Program involving assessments, external

speakers and group cohorts.

• Hilton Worldwide has established a dedicated Leadership

College and website as part of Hilton Worldwide University.

The wide range of senior leadership offerings include:

° In person, high investment learning events such as “GM

Excellence.” This is a week dedicated for Hilton’s high

potential General Managers from around the world. The

objectives are to refine skills and network with your

peers and C-suite leaders. The curriculum is developed

in partnership with Cornell University’s School of Hotel

Administration.

° Bi-weekly on-line briefings that leaders can quickly

digest. Each briefing includes a link to an internal

speaker addressing a specific business challenge; an

external thought leader or YouTube/ TED talk; and a

short article or white paper. These have been very well

received within the organization and were developed

around the concept of “Leadership in 3 Minutes or Less.”

° An online, facilitated Leadership Transitions Program

for newly appointed and newly transitioning leaders, in

conjunction with Harvard University.

° Annual Business Immersions where senior leaders

spend three days working in a range of departments in

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one of the company’s hotels.

° Executive coaching, 360, mentoring, self-selection

development catalogs.

° A portfolio of leadership development programs for

identified talent to transition through the organization

to Hotel General Manager.

• Intel focuses on both the leaders in key areas of the

company as well as pivotal roles and the pipeline of leaders

for each of these pivotal roles. The assessment criteria they

use include both their agility and achievement mentality.

Individualized development plans are created for each

leader. Partnering with a leading business school, those

with VP potential move as a cohort through a focused

development program. Mentors from Merryck also work

one-to-one with key leaders. In addition, a program

for senior leaders and executives is being created in

partnership with Stanford University to build a common

vernacular and skills/behaviors for leaders at this level.

• As Mondeléz International spun off from Kraft Foods

they kept the things that worked well in the past and

added some additional programs to develop future leaders.

Like other organizations, they also use multi-faceted

assessments and individual development plans. For

the top 40-50 leaders they use assessment and tailored

development plans in order to accelerate the development

of their leaders and help prepare them for the future roles

they are being targeted for. Their CEO is very engaged in

this entire process (which is critical to its success). They

also have a leadership development program for select, high

potential Directors/Sr. Directors. The focus is on developing

themselves, others, and the enterprise, and includes

assessment, coaching, networking, and experiential learning

over a 12-month period.

• Novartis also leverages the 70/20/10 model for

development. Managers are encouraged to hold regular

development and career planning meetings with their

associates to determine the right mix of stretch assignments,

project work, mentoring and coaching, as well as formal

courses. In terms of formal programs, Novartis drew

attention to the following:

° The Novartis Group has developed a suite of prestigious

programs partnering with leading universities to

enhance senior management/executive level leadership.

° For critical roles, such as General Managers and

Franchise Heads, tailored approaches have been

developed integrating assessment and development

centers, coaching (individual and peer coaching), group

projects and assignments.

° Focusing on Female Executives, a 12-month program

has been developed, which was first launched in

2010. This program aims to equip participants with

experiences, tools and new ways of thinking to enable

them to become more versatile, resilient, influential and

inspirational leaders of their teams and businesses. The

program is modular in nature and provides participants

with numerous opportunities to interact and learn from

senior management, work on critical business topics

and extend their network.

° High potential individuals who are earlier in their career

have access to the “Leadership Discovery Program,” a

12-month program that includes classroom modules,

skills building, self-discovery, and mentoring.

• Like many other firms, Rio Tinto leverages the 70/20/10

model for their leadership development. Their portfolio of

leadership development activities includes:

° Learning from your current role and your organization.

° Using resources (such as short videos, readings, etc.) on

a web site portal that are based on their leadership and

functional competencies.

° Leader led sessions accessible to all employees on

subjects such as living the competencies and current

challenges.

° One-to-one coaching and mentoring (available for any

employee).

° Membership in professional associations or positions on

non-profit boards.

° Formal leadership programs targeted to individuals

based on their current role, future role, or future

potential. These development opportunities include

sessions in both the developed and developing markets,

networking opportunities, and skill building in such

areas as strategy, business acumen, and understanding

oneself.

• Walgreens recently launched their corporate university,

which features a number of offerings for individual

contributors, those preparing for management, front line

leaders, managers of managers, and those managing a

business unit. Walgreens Leadership Academy (developed

in partnership with the RBL Group) educates potential and

current VPs on “Leading Well at Walgreens.” It includes

action learning, instructor-led training on core competencies,

360 feedback, leaders as teachers, and individual coaching.

They are also building a second program in partnership

with Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania called, “The

Business of Retail Healthcare,” to reflect the company’s new

strategic direction.

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In addition to all the formal training they encourage leaders

to grow through developmental job assignments, taking on

temporary new responsibilities, expanding “in-role,” and

developing themselves externally through profit and non-

profit board memberships. A Leadership Alumni network

and Yammer community of practice also exists to keep

executives connected to each other and enable individuals

to interact around specific leadership “sound bites.”

• The foundation of leadership development at BASF is

also the 70/20/10 framework. With respect to formal

training, they are focused on increasing accountability and

excitement in becoming a leader of people. A manager

skill-build series called “Driving Performance and Growth in

Your Business” aimed at building stronger leaders was just

launched. It includes quarterly mandatory half-day sessions

aimed at strengthening one’s skills, network, and mindset.

They also target critical moments when leaders transition

into new roles. Any new leader has available to them a

wide range of tools, training, HR support, and executive

coaching to assist them in their assimilation and the first

100 days.

IDENTIFYING THE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE

Identifying which individuals should be targeted for

accelerated leadership development has always been a

challenge. A number of factors should be considered in

determining one's potential. RBL uses the “4 A’s” model

for assessing potential: Ambition, Ability, Achievement, and

Agility (Learning Agility). (See Figure 4 below)

Assessing potential and learning agility continues to be a

difficult challenge for many organizations. Learning agility

has become especially important in identifying future leaders

because we live in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and

Ambiguous) world. Leaders need to be nimble.

Being able to quickly capture new insights from experience

and the world around us is increasingly important. The simple

assessment shown in Figure 4 is a quick way to question if an

individual is a high potential for a furue role.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Strong, capable leadership is at the foundation of success

for both individual leaders and companies. Through the

experiences of these companies and others it is clear that

there are several keys to successfully developing the next

generation of leaders.

• Deep personal conviction and hands on involvement of the

company’s senior leadership.

• Having a clear agreement on what leaders must do to be

successful.

• Employing a wide array of development experiences (on-

the-job, education, and life experience) to build the desired

© 2011 The RBL Group © The RBL Group June 2013 / Strategic Workforce Planning

4!

1. Ambition:  Does  this  person  have  the  ambition  to  grow,  test  themselves,  and  become  the  best  they  can  become  in  whatever  career  path  they  choose  to  follow?  

 

2. Ability:  Does  this  person  have  the  basic  abilities  and  intelligence  to  fulfill  the  highest  levels  of  achievement  in  their  chosen  career  path?  

 

3. Achievement:  Has  this  person  been  highly  successful  in  their  assignments  and  have  a  track  record  of  exceptional  success  in  all  responsibilities  they  have  been  assigned?  

 

4. Learning  Agility:  Does  this  person  love  to  learn  and  attack  career  related  data  to  capture  new  and  unique  ideas  that  can  be  applied  to  solving  business  problems  and  building  their  career?    

 

Overall  how  would  you  rate  this  individual’s  potential?  

   

Assessing potential Figure 4. Assessing Potential

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skills and knowledge.

• Pinpointing what specific individuals need to maximize their

growth through personalized development plans.

• Investing in providing the time needed to learn and practice

new skills.

• Focusing on developing leaders at all levels of the

organization.

Those companies that do this well are the ones that will

continue to excel in the years ahead.