The Leadership Gap: Building Leadership Capacity for Competitive Advantage

354 Pages·2005·3.44 MB·English

by  David S. Weiss

t h e
L E A D E R S H I P
G A P
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t h e
L E A D E R S H I P
G A P
Building Leadership Capacity
for Competitive Advantage
Dr. David S. Weiss
Dr. Vince Molinaro
John Wiley & Sons Canada,Ltd.
Copyright© 2005 by Dr. David S. Weiss and Dr. Vince Molinaro
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright here-
in may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic,
electronic or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or informa-
tion storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be
directed in writing to The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency
(Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, visit www.access-
copyright.ca or call toll free, 1-800-893-5777.
Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in
this book. The publishers will gladly receive any information that will
enable them to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Weiss, David S. (David Solomon), 1953-
The leadership gap : building leadership capacity for competitive
advantage / David Weiss, Vince Molinaro.
Includes index.
ISBN-13 978-0-470-83568-0
ISBN-10 0-470-83568-0
1. Leadership. I. Molinaro, Vince, 1962- II. Title.
HD57.7.W525 2005 658.4’092 C2005-900326-X
Production Credits
Cover design: Mike Chan (with a contribution from Joseph Weissgold)
Interior design: Interrobang Graphic Design Inc.
Printer: Friesens Printers Ltd.
John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.
6045 Freemont Blvd.,
Mississauga, ON
L5R 4J3
Printed in Canada
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
prefaceix
acknowledgementsxvii
part one:The Business Imperative1
Chapter One:Mission Critical3
Leadership Capacity And The Leadership Gap5
The Changing Business Environment Necessitates
New Ways Of Thinking6
The Leadership Gap Is Mission Critical13
Current Solutions Are Not Bridging The Gap15
Chapter Two:Bridging The Leadership Gap17
The Four Aspects Of The Leadership Gap17
Bridging The Leadership Gap24
part two:The Leader’s Response29
Chapter Three:Holistic Leadership: An Overview31
Understanding Holistic Leadership32
Functional Leadership33
An Example Of Dysfunctional Executive Leadership
And Its Implications37
The Need For Holistic Leadership45
vi CONTENTS
chapter four:Customer Leadership51
The Changing Customer Dynamics52
Implications Of Customer Dynamics54
The Public And Private Sector Customer56
Five Expectations Of Customer Leadership58
From Customer Value To Customer Loyalty61
Customer Leadership Is The Heart of Holistic Leadership73
Chapter Five:Business Strategy75
Developing Business Strategy79
The Business Strategy Process82
Architect Strategy83
Balance Priorities86
Contingency Scenarios92
Deploy Plans95
Evaluate Outcomes98
Leverage Business Strategy To Develop High-Potential Leaders100
Closing Comments104
Chapter Six:Culture and Values105
Pillar 1—Lead Culture Change107
Pillar 2—Integrate Values Into The Organization116
Pillar 3—Drive Employee Engagement With
The Culture and Values121
Measure And Track Progress On The Culture And Values127
Closing Comments128
Chapter Seven:Organizational Leadership129
Organizational Leadership—Leading for Alignment
and Engagement130
Three Tools To Build High-Performance Organizations138
Tool #1: Develop An Enterprise-Wide Perspective And
Work In The Interest Of The Whole Organization139
Tool #2: Build Relationships With And Influence Key
Stakeholders145
Tool #3: Increase The Collaboration And Integration
Across The Organization151
Closing Comments155
CONTENTS vii
Chaper Eight:Team Leadership157
Team Leadership—Even More Important Today157
The Four Types Of Teams159
Assessing Team Leadership Case Example165
How To Build Strong Team Leadership170
Closing Comments178
Chapter Nine:Personal Leadership179
The Personal Factors That Can Derail Leaders181
CAPABLE Personal Leadership184
Closing Comments209
part three:The Organization’s Response211
Chapter Ten:Leadership Capacity Implementation:
An Overview213
Why Leadership Capacity Implementation is Important215
Closing Comments224
Chapter Eleven:Embedding Leadership In
The Organization225
Embedding Leadership: The Journey226
The Three Foundational Strategies For Embedding
Leadership In An Organization228
Strategy # 1: Ensure A Secure Supply Of Leadership Talent229
Strategy # 2: Develop A Compelling Organization-Specific
Leadership Story234
Strategy # 3: Anchor To A Well-Established Organizational
Process240
What Is Lost When One Or More Of The Strategies
To Embed Have Not Been Applied?242
The Gaps Can Be Bridged With Focused Attention243
Chapter Twelve:Focus on Critical Positions and Key Talent245
The Failure of Traditional Succession Planning Processes246
Five Methods Of Identifying Successors To Fill The
Leadership Capacity Gap248
The Risks of Not Insuring Successors For Critical Positions250
Why Focus Succession Management On Critical Positions
And Not On Key Leadership Talent?254
viii CONTENTS
Retention Strategies For Key Talent255
The Five Steps Of Succession Management For
Critical Positions258
Five Key Success Factors In Succession Management
For Critical Positions268
Closing Comments271
Chapter Thirteen:Integrated Leadership Development273
The Traditional Approaches to Leadership Development275
The Four Types of Leadership Development Options278
The Strengths and Limitations of the Multiple-Solution
Approach284
The Need For An Integrated Solution286
The Integrated-Solution Approach To Leadership
Development287
The Eight Steps To Implementing An Integrated-Solution
Approach To Leadership Development288
Closing Comments296
Chapter Fourteen:Accountability For Leadership Capacity297
Executive Accountability For Leadership Capacity298
Human Resources Professionals Part Of Building
Leadership Capacity303
HR Accountability to Audit The Current State Of
Leadership Capacity308
What If The Executives Are Not Interested In Leadership
Capacity313
Closing Comments314
Chapter Fifteen:The Leadership Economy315
Welcome to the Leadership Economy316
The Implications Of The Leadership Economy
For Business, Government, and Academia318
The Road Ahead321
If Not Now, Then When?322
index323
about the authors331
about knightsbridge334
Preface
The Leadership Gap addresses one of the most mission critical business
issues facing organizations today—building leadership capacity.
Organizations are experiencing significant leadership gaps, which is
undermining their ability to succeed. However, many executives
either are not focusing on this issue or are not satisfied with current
approaches to building leadership capacity. What is especially alarm-
ing about the leadership gap is that despite widespread investments in
management and leadership education, companies still are not able to
deal with this gap.
Executives and HR professionals need to rally around the leader-
ship gap issue and not allow it to jeopardize their business success.
Some executives may believe that this is a soft business issue. We sug-
gest that, quite to the contrary, the leadership gap should be one of
the top priorities for executives now and into the future.
The Leadership Gapchallenges the traditional views and approaches
of building leadership capacity with a new integrated perspective that
recognizes leadership as a source of competitive advantage.
To this end, The Leadership Gappresents the case for a new frame-