The need and desire to develop leaders within organizations is hardly a new trend. In fact if you search Amazon for “leadership books” you will get over 179,000 returns, according to the post. But what we have seen is a significant shift in the strategies, cohorts, capabilities and data utilized to actually develop the next generation of leaders.
Last year companies spent nearly $31 billion on leadership programs, yet only 7% believe that they are “excellent” at building Millennial leaders. In fact many organizations are still seeking to develop old school “command-and control” style leaders. While these leaders were fairly effective in the traditional, top-down run organizations of the past, they are frequently finding themselves out of touch with today’s workforce. The challenge that we face is the need to enable our Baby Boomers to “pass the baton” to the next generation of leaders in a way that leverages the Boomers’ intellectual capital and institutional knowledge while giving the Millennials opportunities to grow.
