Any executive (CIO, CEO, business owner, whatever) will tell you that one of the keys to success is hiring great managers. In a technology group (or company) the people chosen to manage engineers are usually … the best engineers.
Do great engineers make great managers? Not without hard work.
You've heard the story: Maestro finishes a performance and is approached by a member of the audience. "I would give my life to play like that." Maestro pauses. "I did."
Most worthwhile pursuits require desire, effort, practice, and focus. And time.
Leadership is no different. You can help by providing opportunities for leaders and potential leaders to study the craft. Here are three ideas:
- Books. Every month or so, we select a group of leaders and read a leadership development book together. We have read books like The Anatomy of Peace, Influencer, What Got You Here Won't Get You There, and so forth. We then get together to discuss the books. I typically facilitate a discussion with about three groups of twelve or so each month. These meetings teach me an awful lot and provide an opportunity for leaders in the organization to learn from each other.
- Speakers. Occasionally we bring in speakers. At the Church we've been able to convince some pretty amazing speakers to come in pro bono, but if I were back in the corporate world I would set aside budget to get great speakers to come in and meet with key leaders.
- Training. We have New Manager Training for all new managers and ongoing, monthly training for all managers. Topics like personal productivity, effective performance management, process, and delegation are covered. We try to focus on very high quality experiences rather than half-baked, thrown together classes. We don't always succeed, but typically these classes reflect the high degree of effort and focus on making them high quality.
These are intuitive suggestions, but I'm surprised at how many companies I talk to which either a) don't pay attention to developing leaders or b) don't treat these opportunities seriously.
