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Here’s a Thought About Mid-Level Leadership Development
(13 de agosto de 2020)
Given the increasing pressures and dynamics of today’s business environment, a more intense spotlight is being placed on the role of mid-level leaders as a key driver for organizational sustainability and success.
The focus of the second edition of “Here’s a Thought About . . .” is to shed some light on the top challenges HR leaders are experiencing today with enhancing the effectiveness of mid-level leaders and to offer our thoughts on developing vital, vibrant mid-level leadership skills and character.
While successful development of mid-level leaders is seen as a high priority, performance is another story. Research by Wilson Learning Worldwide and Training magazine shows that only 54% of organizations think their development efforts are effective—and only 12% see them as highly effective.
Performance of Mid-Level Leadership Development Lags
Training magazine and Wilson Learning Worldwide Leadership Survey Report, 2019
Why such a struggle? Our research shows that mid-level leadership is a critical transition point. First-level leaders’ success is primarily driven by their tactical leadership skills—their ability to get work done through other people. However, mid-level leadership is a transition toward a leadership character-dominated success story.
The Struggle in Heroic Management
While first-level leaders struggle to rely less on their functional credibility in order to establish their leadership credibility, mid-level leaders need to shift their focus from getting work done through others toward getting work done with others in a way that grows their ability to do it themselves. There is an underlying human tendency that leaders struggle with—once they are in a position of power with a greater span of control and authority as a mid-level manager, it can be hard to give that up and empower others.
Many mid-level leaders believe that since they are accountable for results—getting the job done right—they need to take charge, assign tasks, coordinate work, control the budget, and make all key decisions, using the one-to-one skills that worked at the first-level leadership position. On one hand, this sounds pretty desirable, doesn’t it? A real take-charge leader.
We refer to this take-charge approach as heroic management. The leader views his or her purpose as achieving specific, short-term business objectives by getting the work done through people. The heroic manager feels he or she must have all the answers, be in control, be responsible for results and coordination, and control everything. As you can imagine, direct reports on the receiving end of this management style feel disempowered, devalued, demotivated, or simply comply, at best.
Mid-level leaders must move beyond the heroic manager approach and shift their mindset from “getting work done through people” to “getting the work done with people in a way that builds their ability to do it themselves.”
Leadership Growth Skills
While first-level leadership development requires acquisition and mastery of one-to-one survival skills, mid-level leadership development necessitates more one-to-group, or team development, skills.
At Wilson Learning, we have coined these as Leadership Growth Skills—skills that help others grow their own skills and abilities, help the group or department grow their collective capacities and responsibilities, and, ultimately, sustain and grow organizational capacity and agility.
Leadership Growth Skills
- Providing direction through mission and vision
- Establishing mutual influence relationships
- Facilitating team goal-setting
- Fostering shared responsibility
- Facilitating team problem-solving
- Developing cross-functional collaboration
Leadership Character Development
If mastery of Leadership Growth Skills is what effective mid-level leaders achieve, developing strong Leadership Character is the intentionality behind executing growth skills with teams and individuals. It is “the why I lead” and reflects a leader’s personal leadership philosophy, what the leader values, and what the leader believes about leadership. Leadership Character that demonstrates a strong code of morality—integrity and ethics—is powerful, and it is palpable.
Consider data from the 2020 Leadership Development Survey Wilson Learning conducted with Training magazine. When we asked participants to indicate the top five character elements important to their organization, over 50 percent indicated that Integrity/Ethics and Empowerment of Others were the two most critical character elements.
Interestingly, three of the top four elements—Empowerment of Others, Nurturing Others’ Growth, and Empathy/Compassion—all address how leaders need to help others grow and develop. Clearly, a critical element of Leadership Character development is the degree to which leaders show concern for the growth and fulfillment of their employees, as well as the integrity of their own actions and decisions.
Here’s a Thought About . . .
Truly effective mid-level leaders have come to understand that their effectiveness as leaders is enhanced by empowering others to grow, develop, and perform. They understand that the truest source of control comes from freeing others to use their talents—and true leaders put into practice and understand that the best way to keep people energized and performing with fulfillment is to serve, guide, and support.
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About the Authors
Tom Roth
Tom Roth es Vicepresidente de Operaciones (COO) de Wilson Learning Worldwide y Presidente de Wilson Learning Japón. Con más de 40 años de experiencia desarrollando e implementando soluciones de mejora del desempeño humano, el Sr. Roth es responsable de la dirección estratégica y el desempeño del negocio de las operaciones de Wilson Learning Worldwide. Adicionalmente, lidera los servicios de marketing global y el grupo de soluciones de I&D, que es responsable de la investigación y desarrollo de todas las soluciones y documentos de posicionamiento. El Sr. Roth apoya a los equipos de liderazgo ejecutivo a nivel global con temas relacionados con el compromiso emocional de los empleados, el desarrollo del liderazgo, alineación estratégica y transformación de negocio. Antes de asumir su rol actual, fue Presidente de los grupos de I&D global y de desarrollo de soluciones y también se desempeñó como Presidente de Wilson Learning Américas.
El Sr. Roth tiene una amplia experiencia desarrollando e implementando soluciones de mejora del desempeño humano. Es coautor del libro Desconectados: Cómo las Organizaciones Pierden su Energía y Cómo Recobrarla, coautor del libro Creando el Equipo de Alto Desempeño y ha publicado en diferentes revistas de negocio. El Sr. Roth es un orador frecuente en conferencias nacionales e internacionales y eventos de clientes, presentando una amplia variedad de temas incluyendo liderazgo, compromiso emocional de los clientes, cambio e implementación de la estrategia.
Michael Leimbach
Michael Leimbach, Ph.D., es Vice Presidente de Investigación y Diseño Global de Wilson Learning Worldwide. Con más de 25 años en el campo, el Dr. Leimbach lidera la investigación y el diseño de las capacidades de diagnóstico, aprendizaje y mejora del desempeño de Wilson Learning. El Dr. Leimbach ha dirigido importantes estudios de investigación en las áreas de ventas, liderazgo y efectividad organizacional y ha desarrollado los modelos de Wilson Learning de evaluación de impacto y retorno sobre la inversión. El Dr. Leimbach se ha desempeñado como consultor de investigación para una gran variedad de organizaciones de clientes a nivel mundial, es miembro del consejo editorial de la revista profesional ADHR y tiene un papel de liderazgo en el comité técnico de la norma ISO TC232: Estándares para los proveedores de servicios de aprendizaje. El Dr. Leimbach es coautor de cuatro libros, ha publicado numerosos artículos profesionales y es un orador frecuente en conferencias nacionales e internacionales.
