For an economy in turmoil and a Talent landscape constantly in flux, it’s not uncommon to have a perceived or real shortage of Talent. The horse trading through Cadre building programs and the perceived threat of losing Talent is often enough to buy into the philosophy of ‘ if we don’t promote, someone else will’. This has lead to a series of collateral reactions like promoting undercooked candidates up the Leadership pipeline, changing designations to sound really senior and substantive and prematurely pushing Talent into Leadership positions to cater to aspirations, dreams without sometimes doing enough to fortify the dreams with Preparation.

Everyone’s favourite analogy of Change and Evolution is the Caterpillar metamorphosing into the incredibly beautiful Butterfly.

What we don’t know or refuse to consider is the painful transformation process as the caterpillar loses its limbs, turns blind, its stomach rips open and many turmoil- filled days later, emerges the butterfly!!

Now consider pulling the partially created butterfly from the ripped stomach of the caterpillar prematurely- in the hope that you can have the butterfly at your pace?!!

Pre-mature Promotions are similar in nature because we have perhaps not had a system or the opportunity to provide the candidate adequate exposures before taking on Leadership positions.

Power before competence sets off a Vicious Cycle of underperformance– often of undesirable behaviours which can ironically make the Organization a poor magnet for good Talent.

Now what must you do if You are that undercooked incumbent who got the job before learning the chops?

• Work harder than everyone else to learn all aspects of the new role. Remember getting Promoted successfully involves letting go of the previous trapeze- much like a trapeze artist till you grapple with the new trapeze and land safely on the other side!
• The experience of nothingness in between till you have mastered your fear, stretched to succeed, found hitherto unknown strengths to grasp the next trapeze- defines the personal growth journey to succeed at the next level
• Don’t take your own Learning and the Learning of your team for granted. Invest in learning both formally and on the job. Learning has a magical way of infusing humility – experience that and see yourself transform as a Leader with gravitas
• Communication and Influencing are Life Skills – develop these to inspire action and manage Stakeholders successfully. Leave imprints of a great reputation by managing your Personal brand effectively
• Staff your Team with great Talent and personally involve yourself with providing Clarity, Timely Performance Feedback and Recognize, Recognize, Recognize good work!
• Hitch yourself to a Mentor / Mentors you can learn from quickly. Always sound them before making important decisions or presenting new ideas
• Work to a plan but demonstrate flexibility to change and meet people more than half the way
• Take it upon yourself to prove to the Organization that they did the RIGHT thing by Trusting YOU to Lead others and see yourself grow to next levels– this time more prepared, more mature, more humble.

Success is where Preparedness meets Opportunity – so make the most of the Opportunity- and don’t forget the Charm.

That is the most enduring quality of a Leader– capturing hearts, winning people who enjoy being lead by You!

Charm…. that is the theme of my next blog. Keep reading….