By Steve Hrop, Ph.D., vice president, Organizational Development Services at Caliper
Much has been written in recent years about how to identify high potential (HiPo) leaders. The most widespread method for doing so is the “9-Box” model. It consists of a 3×3 grid with two dimensions (performance and potential) each measured by three levels (low, medium, and high).
The problem with the 9-Box model is that it provides no guidance on how to define “high potential.” The definitions vary widely across organizations. For example, in a Fortune 500 company with 30,000 employees that is seeking to identify high potential leaders who currently are at Manager level, defining “high potential” as someone who could “advance two levels within the next 5 years” might be a reasonable definition. However, that definition would be useless in an organization of 500 people that has few management layers. This type of “advancement” definition suffers from a more fundamental problem: it says nothing about the attributes that will enable a person to achieve those higher levels.
In my experience as a former head of talent management at a Fortune 500 company and now as an executive coach and succession planning consultant, I believe there are three criteria that can help organizations of all sizes identify their HiPo leaders: Resourcefulness, Reserve Capacity, and “Leader GPS.”
Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness is the ability to solve problems and overcome obstacles of a nonroutine nature. Many employees perform well when they are able to function “inside the box.” When they are faced with tasks and issues that fall well within the box of their knowledge, experience, and comfort level, they perform well.
However, when faced with nonroutine issues characterized by ambiguity, complex tradeoffs, or unexpected roadblocks, these employees often get stuck. They become indecisive, procrastinate, or hesitant. In contrast, high potential individuals are able to move forward in these situations and overcome whatever roadblocks cross their path.
Reserve Capacity
Reserve capacity refers to the amount of time and energy needed to complete nonroutine tasks. High potential leaders are more productive in this regard than leaders with lower potential. A good analogy is two college students studying for the same test. Both achieve an “A,” but one required many more hours of study than the other. They achieved the same result, but one consumed vastly more time and energy than the other.
As HiPos rise to the most senior levels within their organization, the demands on their time and energy increase significantly. As an executive coach, I often deal with leaders who are struggling with poor work/life balance, high levels of stress, and emotional burnout.
Reserve capacity is a critical factor in the ability to cope with such demands. Those with low reserve capacity can be good performers in situations with moderate levels of time pressure and energy demands, but their likelihood of failure rises significantly when placed in roles that consume large amounts of energy and require working under time pressure for extended periods of time.
Leader GPS
Someone once said that “perspective is worth 30 IQ points.” We all know extremely smart people who are analytically brilliant within their functional silo but lack the broader perspective needed to put their ideas and recommendations into the broader business context of their organization. In contrast, HiPos exhibit what I call “Leader GPS.” It consists of three types of perspective: cross-functional, outside-in, and future-focused.
The ability to think cross-functionally is the hallmark of an effective general manager. Many capable performers who spent most of their career in one function (e.g., finance or sales) struggle when promoted into their first general manager role or to the top level of their function. Now they need to think cross-functionally in order to align the efforts of their team. Those with high potential show this ability to think cross-functionally long before their first general manager role.
A great way to assess for this at the more junior levels of your company is to assign people to special projects that require cross-functional collaboration. Some project members will try to dominate the project team with their functional knowledge and analytical brilliance. Others will take a broader perspective and look at issues cross-functionally and show the ability to collaborate with people from other functions. The latter group will have a much higher percentage of HiPos than the former.
The second aspect of Leader GPS is having an “outside-in” perspective. This refers to an awareness of factors outside of the organization (e.g., industry trends and “best practices”) that are relevant to the leader’s company and to his or her role and career objectives.
For example, recently I received an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from a former colleague at a Fortune 500 company. He was employed by this company for 20 years and recently left due to a downsizing within his department. In his invitation he said he is “brand new to LinkedIn” and is starting to network now that he is searching for a new job. He is a capable IT professional but is someone who throughout his career has lived inside the bubble of his narrow day job and only reached the Manager level at his former company while many people of the same age have reached the Vice President level. He is a solid performer, but not a HiPo.
The third aspect of perspective is future-focus. HiPos naturally seek to identify potential “downstream” consequences of their actions and decisions. They engage in “scenario” thinking to consider multiple possibilities and potential outcomes. This is quite different from most functional experts who seek to come up with the one “right answer” and then passionately defend this answer if others have a different perspective. Also, they seem better able to balance the urgent (short-term tasks) and the important (nonurgent issues that will increase in significance as time goes on, making procrastination a dangerous strategy).
Organizations of all sizes can use these criteria to identify their HiPos. Special projects are the best method for doing this since they not only help you identify those with the highest potential, but are the ideal vehicle for developing and enhancing the three criteria described in this article.
 In his consulting work with Caliper clients, Steve Hrop’s areas of focus are executive coaching, leader assessment, talent management, leadership development, and organizational development consulting. He has more than 20 years of experience in corporate and consulting settings, including extensive work with C-level executives and their teams. |