CHAPTER 15
Leadership Development and Succession
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.
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.
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
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
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
provide meaningful development opportunities, not to push managers to the point
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
C. Mentoring
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
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.
2. Online Mentoring. Online, or virtual, mentoring is popular because sending e-mail
messages, texting, and social media posts helps overcome barriers created by
geography, limited time, and voice mail. Online mentoring offers a wide pool of
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.
political skill.
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
A. Types of Leadership Development Programs
In practice, the various programs for developing leaders often overlap.
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
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
development program emphasizes socializing (becoming acclimated to and accepting)
the company vision and values. Frequently, the chief executive makes a presentation of
the company vision and values.
5. Action Learning Programs. In action learning, leaders and potential leaders work
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
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
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
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. The Emotional Aspects of Leadership Succession
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
C. 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
D. 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
better when the appointed insiders to CEO—a finding also supported by other researchers. A
V. CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
Leadership development programs include succession and promotion from within. A successful
program should include the following characteristics: (1) cognitive and experiential components,
VI. 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:
1. Uncertainty about how much time to spend leading versus doing individual tasks.
2. Overcoming the resentment of the people in the group who wanted your leadership position.
VI. GUIDELINES FOR ACTION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
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.
COMMENTS ON EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
Leadership Self–Assessment Quiz 15–1: My Self–Discipline
Tendencies
Thinking about one’s level of self-discipline is potentially valuable because self-discipline is
Leadership Self–Assessment Quiz 15–2: The Interpersonal Skills
Checklist
The interpersonal skills checklist is an extraordinarily important development exercise. Most people have
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-1: Finding a Mentor or Mentors
for Leadership Development
What better skill-building exercise for students who want to advance their career as a leader?
This same exercise might be framed as finding quality people to include in your network. One
Leadership Skill–Building Exercise 15–2: Building for the Future
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-3: My Leadership Portfolio
The final entry into the leadership portfolio is a reminder and a suggestion to maintain a leadership
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 15-4: Analyzing a Local Leader
Analyzing a local leader might serve as a capstone exercise to the course. It is easy to criticize a
COMMENTS ON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
1. The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) offers a leadership development program that includes
simulating being a firefighter by going through emergency drills such s rescuing passengers from a
subway accident. Assuming that you have the physical capabilities, would you be willing to
participate in such a 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
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?
Playing team sports undoubtedly contributes to an awareness of the importance of team play. Many
group activities, such as experience with a school newspaper, a club, or an orchestra.
3. In terms of developing as a leader, should an executive take seriously nasty comments made about
him or her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram?
As much as it hurts, the executive might take seriously comments that seem consistent, rather than
one random negative comment. Imagine that an executive observes several comments that he or she
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
between my words and deeds.”
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 quick-service restaurant help you achieve
your goal?
Supervisory experience is highly valuable for a future executive position for many reasons. The
5. Why is being a member of a cross-functional team considered to be helpful experience as a future
leader?
As a member of a cross-functional team a person has to work smoothly with people from different
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.)
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,
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.
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
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
PLAUSIBLE RESPONSES TO CASE QUESTIONS
Leadership Case Problem A: Holly, the Potential Team Leader
1. Based on her interview responses, explain whether Malcolm should recommend that Holly be
promoted to team leader.
Holly appears to be a satisfactory candidate for the team leadership position. It appears that her
2. What has Holly revealed that would suggest she might be an effective team leader?
As answered in question 1, Holly shows many positive attributes for the position of team
leader. She is passionate about the discipline of environmental engineering, she has taken some
Associated Role Play
This role play provides an opportunity to practice a scenario that will be encountered by many
ambitious people—presenting oneself in a favorable light in order to secure a valued position. Holly
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?
Chapter 15: Leadership Development, Succession, and Followership
2. What recommendations would you mke to Kaitlin to improve her mentoring effectiveness?
Kaitlin need to study more about effective mentoring, then attempt to put some of the ideas into
3. What do you do recommend Misty do to profit more from the mentoring and leadership provided
by Kaitlin?
Associated Role Play
The final role play in the leadership textbook illustrates once again how diplomacy and tact can serve
a person well. Misty wants to improve professionally but she feels that Kaitlin’s micromanagement is