CHAPTER 15
Leadership Development and Succession
The primary purpose of this chapter is to help readers understand the nature of leadership development
and succession, including the need for continuous learning. Many of the ideas in the chapter can be
applied to the reader for personal development as a leader.
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES
This chapter describes the processes organizations use to develop present and future leaders. A
description of one facet of leadership self-development is also included. The chapter assumes that
leaders are both born and made.
I. DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS AND SELF-DISCIPLINE
Self-help contributes heavily to developing leadership capabilities. Two major components of
leadership self-development are self-awareness and self-discipline.
A. Leadership Development through Self-Awareness
An important mechanism underlying self-development is self-awareness, insightfully
processing feedback about oneself to improve personal effectiveness. Self-awareness occurs
at two levels. Single-loop learning occurs when learners seek minimum feedback that might
substantially confront their basic ideas or actions. Single-loop learners think defensively.
Double-loop learning is an in-depth type of learning that occurs when people use feedback
to confront the validity of the goal or the values implicit in the situation. Double-loop
B. Leadership Development through Self-Discipline
Leadership development requires considerable self-discipline, mobilizing one’s effort and
energy to stay focused on attaining an important goal. Self-discipline plays an important role
in the continuous monitoring of one’s behavior to ensure that needed self-development
occurs.
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II. DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND MENTORING
Much of leadership development takes place through means other than self-awareness and self-
discipline or leadership development programs. Almost any life activity can help people prepare
for a leadership role.
A. Education
Education generally refers to acquiring knowledge without concern about immediate
application. The extent of formal education is positively correlated with achieving
B. Experience
Without experience, knowledge cannot readily be converted into skills. Leadership
experience also helps build skills and insights that a person may not have formally studied.
1. Challenging Experiences. The best experiences for leadership development are those
that challenge the manager realistically. The goal of leadership development is to
2. Sources of Experience. The two major developmental factors in any work situation are
work associates and the task itself. Work associates can serve as positive or negative
models. Work-related tasks give the leader an opportunity to become an effective and
3. Broad Experience. Many aspects of leadership are situational. Gaining managerial
experience in different settings is therefore advantageous. A widespread practice is to
assign managers to cross-functional teams to give them experience in working with
other disciplines. Achieving broad experience fits well with the current emphasis on
growth through learning new skills rather than a preoccupation with vertical mobility.
A particularly effective type of broad experience early in a career is to perform
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C. Mentoring
Coaching often comes from a mentor, a more experienced person who develops a protégé’s
abilities through tutoring, coaching, guidance, and emotional support. A mentor is often a
person’s manager, but he or she can also be a staff professional or a coworker.
1. Informal Versus Formal Mentoring. Mentoring is traditionally thought of as an
informal relationship based on compatibility between two personalities; however,
many firms offer formal mentoring programs. Ragins and Cotton studied the
effectiveness of informal versus formal mentoring programs for men and women,
across three occupations. Informal mentoring led to higher income.
union leaders, and the like.
2. Online Mentoring. Online, or virtual, mentoring is popular because sending e-mail
messages, texting, and social media posts helps overcome barriers created by
3. Effective Mentoring Behaviors. In general, effective mentors tend to engage in
4. Impact on Leadership. Mentors can make recommendations for promotion, and help
the mentee develop contacts. High-level leaders sometimes use mentors as a way of
obtaining useful feedback. The mentor can coach the protégé about handling
leadership situations and understanding the political aspects of the organization.
5. The Importance of Having More than One Mentor. Mentoring relationships are often
fragile, and problems can occur including feelings of rivalry, or the mentee being
neglected. Having more than one mentor can help deal with these problems. The term
composite mentor refers to a collection of people you draw lessons from, including
strategic thinking and creativity.
III. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Leadership development has become a heavy priority for many major business and government
organizations. An analysis conducted by Fortune concluded that no matter what business a
company is in, the real business is building leaders. One of the forces compelling companies to
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A. Types of Leadership Development Programs
In practice, the various programs for developing leaders often overlap.
1. Feedback-Intensive Programs. A feedback-intensive development program helps
leaders develop by seeing more clearly their patterns of behavior, the reasons for such
2. Skill-Based Programs. Skill training in leadership development involves acquiring
abilities and techniques that can be converted into action. The emphasis is on learning
how to apply knowledge. Five different methods are often used in skill-based
3. Conceptual Knowledge and Awareness Programs. A standard approach to leadership
development is to learn useful concepts about leadership. Conceptual knowledge is
4. Socialization Programs. From the company standpoint, an essential type of leadership
5. Action Learning Programs. In action learning, leaders and potential leaders work
together in groups to solve organization problems outside of their usual sphere of
influence. Action learning is also referred to as experiential learning. A variation on
6. Coaching and Psychotherapy. Executive coaching is clearly a form of leadership
7. Evaluation of Leadership Development Programs. Many companies evaluate their
leadership development programs to see if they are cost effective, and to investigate if
leadership performance improves. A survey of 329 organizations found that about 75
percent of the organizations said their leadership development programs are not very
IV. LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION
In a well-managed organization, replacements for retiring and dismissed executives are chosen
through leadership succession, an orderly process of identifying and grooming people to replace
executives. Succession planning is vital to the long-term health of an organization, and therefore
an important responsibility of senior leadership. Despite the importance of succession planning,
only 23 percent of organizations responding to a Society for Human Resources survey reported
having a succession plan in place for the CEO position. Being groomed as a successor is part of a
person’s development, and fostering a successor’s development is part of a manager’s own
development.
A. How the Board Chooses a Successor
The board is likely to follow standard principles of human resources selection such as
thoroughly screening candidates, including speaking to people who have worked with the
candidate. It is recommended that board members have regular contact (both formal and
B. Succession Planning at General Electric and Procter & Gamble
At General Electric, board members are closely involved in an ongoing evaluation of the
company’s highest ranking managers. Twice a year directors scrutinize about fifteen of these
people. The process includes lengthy interviews with the managers, their managers, former
associates, and group members. Performance evaluations are supposed to be ruthlessly
C. The Emotional Aspects of Leadership Succession
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When executives are replaced, even if they are financially independent, they are likely to
experience an emotional loss. Leadership succession in a family business is emotional for
many reasons, such as family squabbles over the best-qualified successor. Another potential
D. Developing a Pool of Successors
Developing a pool of candidates combines evaluating potential with giving high-potential
individuals the right type of developmental experiences. The steps include evaluating the
extent of the organization’s pending leadership shortage, and identifying high-potential
E. Promotion from Within
Research suggests that promoting insiders with an outside perspective may be the best
solution to the dilemma of whether to promote an insider or an outsider to a top leadership
position. An analysis of 1,800 successions found that companies performed substantially
V. CHALLENGES OF BEING A NEW LEADER
One way of preparing for becoming a leader for the first time is to think through some of the
inevitable challenges of occupying a formal leadership position for the first time. Among the
challenges are as follows:
2. Overcoming the resentment of the people in the group who wanted your leadership position.
4. Having realistic expectations about how much you can accomplish right away.
5. Overcoming the need to be liked by everybody.
VI. GUIDELINES FOR ACTION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
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A major determinant of whether a person will develop as a leader later in life is the motivation to
lead. This type of motivation is manifested in such activities as volunteering for leadership roles,
and well as taking the initiative to lead in sport, club, or neighborhood activities.
An important method for enhancing both the acceptance and the effectiveness of leadership
COMMENTS ON EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 15-1: The Interpersonal Skills
Checklist
The interpersonal skills checklist is an extraordinarily important development exercise. Most people
have their developmental needs tapped by this straightforward questionnaire. Moving from need
recognition to change requires an astute action plan and considerable self-discipline.
Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 15-2: My Attitudes Toward
Mentoring
Reflecting on whether a person really wants to mentor and encourage others is a fruitful area for
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-1: Building for the Future
An important aspect of many leadership development programs is feedback from peers. The standard
feedback method described in this exercise is well structured and usually quite effective. At this point in
the course, many students will appreciate constructive suggestions for personal development.
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-2: My Leadership Portfolio
The final entry into the leadership portfolio is a reminder and a suggestion to maintain a leadership
journal throughout your career. Reflection about what we are doing often leads to skill development
because it can lead to error correction, and to repetition of what leadership practices went well.
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-3: Analyzing a Local Leader
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COMMENTS ON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Assuming that you have the physical capabilities, would you be willing to participate in the
FDNY Firefighter for a Day Team Challenge as part of your leadership and teamwork skills
development? Explain your logic.
Most students voluntarily taking a leadership course would leap at the opportunity to practice
teamwork in such an intense, high-status setting. Part of the logic of many students is that they
would like the high-speed action, and the experience of working under intense pressure. The
2. Many business executives believe that playing team sports helps a person develop as a leader.
Based on your knowledge of leadership development, where do you stand on this issue?
3. How might a leader make use of social media to obtain feedback on his or her leadership
effectiveness?
4. Suppose you aspired to become a senior executive in a large company. How would working as an
office supervisor, production supervisor, or manager in a fast-food restaurant help you achieve
your goal?
5. Why is being a member of a cross-functional team considered to be helpful experience as a future
leader?
6. According to the Corporate Productivity Institute, companies whose leaders participated in a
leadership development program experienced better customer satisfaction, more revenue growth,
and reduced employee turnover. Why might such good results come about?
7. Identify at least one developmental need with respect to leadership skills for the current president
of the United States. Point to any specific behavior of the president that indicates the need for the
particular development you specify. (Attempt to be objective rather than political in your answer.)
In stories and cartoons, the press provides many hints about the developmental needs of the
president. Politically-oriented blogs also suggest developmental needs for the president.
8. What can you as a parent, future parent, or close relative do to help a child under 10 years old
become a leader later in life?
Assuming that the parent believes that traits and behaviors contribute to leadership effectiveness,
the parent could take actions such as: (1) giving the child intellectual stimulation, (2) helping the
9. Ask an experienced leader what he or she thinks is the most effective method of developing
leadership skills. Bring your findings back to class.
10. Now that you have completed a course in leadership, what do you think of this ancient adage:
“Leadership shouldn’t be a popularity contest”?
Agreeing with this adage indicates that the person believes a leader should be an independent
thinker who takes decisive actions that sometimes may not be liked by group members. An
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PLAUSIBLE RESPONSES TO CASE QUESTIONS
Leadership Case Problem A: Malcolm Eyes the Executive Suite
This case illustrates how creating the impression of being heavily concerned about career
advancement can actually hinder, rather than boost a person’s opportunity for promotion.
1. In what way is this case about leadership development?
2. What would you recommend that Malcolm do to facilitate his path to an executive position?
3. To what extent do you think Jessica’s comment is justified?
Jessica’s comment appears totally justified. Malcolm seems over–concerned with climbing the
organizational ladder and less concerned about attaining high performance and horizontal
growth. Jessica is attempting to be an effective coach, yet Malcolm must listen for the coaching
Leadership Case Problem B: Kaitlin the New Mentor
This case illustrates the challenges of being a mentor and at the same time understanding that an
effective mentor typically guides and listens rather than dictates.
1. What is your evaluation of the most likely effectiveness of Kaitlin’s approach to mentoring?
2. What recommendations would you mke to Kaitlin to improve her mentoring effectiveness?
3. What do you do recommend Misty do to profit more from the mentoring and leadership
provided by Kaitlin?
Misty could profit from listening carefully to Kaitlin, and then sort out what advice has
merit. Misty might also ask to have a few one–on-one conversations with Kaitlin because
the mentoring session excerpted did not involve enough discussion to be highly useful.
Kaitlin basically delivered a list of complaints.