Cynthia McCauley [Archive.org URL]

To be effective, every executive needs a broad perspective on both the organization and the business context that it operates within. This perspective can only come from having work experiences in different parts of the organization, in different businesses, and, for global companies, in different parts of the world. Although important, traditional leadership coaching, training, and mentoring programs—which most companies have focused on in their efforts to build leadership skills—are no substitute for carefully organized and managed on-the-job leadership experience.

Successful executives also need a broad repertoire of skills. Virtually all executives start out in their careers possessing certain natural strengths. Perhaps they could synthesize and create order out of large amounts of information, or they were great at building productive relationships, or they were really resilient in the face of adversity.

But to be effective in a wide variety of leadership situations, they can’t just rely on those natural talents; they have to master a much wider variety of skills. And leaders who step into new situations face challenges that call for untested abilities. They continue to develop their capacities and successfully take on higher levels of leadership responsibility. That’s consistent with what we know about adult learning and development, too: People learn how to do things when they’re put in situations where they have to do them and practice doing them.

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that as managers move through different assignments and projects, they have the opportunity to develop a more diverse network of relationships. That’s another asset that can contribute to their success as leaders.

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