John Kotter, What Leaders Really Do

Creating a Culture of Leadership

on-the-job experiences of most people actually seem to
undermine the development of the attributes needed for
leadership. p. 93

I. preparing people for small- and medium-sized leadership
jobs pp. 93 & 96

II. developing people for important leadership positions p. 96

III. create a corporate culture where people value strong
leadership p. 96
I. Small and medium leadership jobs
Recruiting people with leadership potential

Managing their career paths

Provide significant challenges
Early in career
Learn by experience
Learn a range of skills and perspectives
Learn how change is dealt with

Broadening
Occurs before being put in a leadership position
Methods
Lateral career moves
Early promotions to broader assignments
Special task-force assignments
Lengthy general management course



I. Small and medium leadership jobs (cont.)
Broadening includes
Breadth of knowledge
Network of relationships

Successful corporate efforts
Put emphasis on creating challenging opportunities for relatively young
employees
Decentralization pushes leadership needs lower in the organization
Create many small units
Stress growth of new ventures within the corporation



II. Important leadership positions
Senior executives must
Spot young people with potential

Identify what is needed to stretch and develop them over a long
period of time

Methods senior executives should use
Spot
Make young people visible to senior management
Senior executives judge potential and development needs
Share conclusions among themselves

Plan for stretch and development
Formal succession planning or high potential development process
Key ingredient an intelligent assessment of what feasible development
opportunities fit each candidates needs. p. 96
II. Important leadership positions (cont.)
Motivation of senior executives

Leader identification and development must be rewarded
Not formal compensation
But a factor in promotions

When told that future promotions will depend on their ability to
nurture leaders, even people who say that leadership cannot be
developed somehow find ways to do it. p. 96
III. Leadership culture
Effective leadership training helps create a corporate
culture where
people value strong leadership and
strive to create it.

Needed
More leaders
more people to develop the cultures that will create that
leadership. p. 96

Institutionalizing a leadership-centered culture is the
ultimate act of leadership.