What is the workplace you are working with?
I am a volunteer nurse in a nursing home for senior citizens. Since most of the volunteers are inexperienced and have little knowledge in the field of nursing, we work in teams of ten. Each unit has two or three experienced members who pass on their knowledge to the rest. For the teams to work effectively, each team is assigned a leader to ensure every member completes their task. Further, several supervisors are in charge of the teams' overall running and oversee the work of the respective leaders.
What is the workplace presently doing to develop current and future leaders?
The team leaders are referred to as secretaries to emphasize that they do not have too much power over the rest. A secretary does not get privileges like special meals or accommodation. Further, the leaders are re-elected after every week to ensure each person gets a chance to develop their leadership skills. The reason for this structure is to ensure leaders do not get consumed by the idea of power. It also aims to teach the leaders that leadership is essentially servanthood.
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Leadership development includes teaching the art of listening and understanding. A leader should not be a dictator; they should listen to their subordinates' grievances and ideas and respond to them accordingly (Moldoveanu & Narayandas, 2019) . Due to differences in personalities and temperaments, some individuals take time to master that art. Unfortunately for most organizations, prowess in that area is often overlooked. Some even believe that the harder a person's personality, the better equipped they are for the leadership position. However, our workplace upholds respect and understanding between leaders and their subordinates. The respect goes both ways, and each of the concerned individuals has to earn it. In assessing various people for a leadership position, their relationship with others is among the things on top of the priority list. Considering that our organization's primary aim is to draw more customers and the leaders are the face of the organization, it is paramount that they portray genuine respect for other human beings.
Teams are required to hold meetings at the beginning of each day to discuss their tasks for the day. After the team meetings, leaders hold a separate meeting with the supervisors to allow them a chance to pose any questions they may have about leadership. These meetings also allow the leaders to interact with each other and share their leadership experiences. Through these meetings, the leaders learn a lot from both their peers and supervisors. On selected days after the meetings, the leaders undertake several undesirable duties like cleaning the washrooms and emptying trash cans. These duties are meant to ensure none of them uses their leadership to escape such tasks. The duties also instill patience and a sense of responsibility in the leaders. As the supervisors assess how each individual handles their leadership roles, they select the few who are exemplary in their work and consider them for supervision responsibilities.
Our organization also has brochures and other written materials that give workers random tips on building their leadership skills. There are posters hung in the common areas to remind leaders of their duties. Other written materials aimed at educating individuals on how to be better leaders include short books written by senior ranking leaders. The organization also invests in motivating leaders by rewarding them for good performance. For instance, a team that completes their tasks on time during a particular individual's leadership is awarded a small party, and the leader is given a present. Similarly, a team that shows lagging or intense conflict under the direction of a particular leader is denied some privileges, and the leader is demoted. The strategy motivates leaders and their teammates to work together with respect and trust.
What are the leadership development and leadership succession needs that should be addressed, and What are the interventions that you will provide to enhance leadership development and succession?
One of the needs in leadership development that requires to be addressed is experience. Naturally, most people associate experience with age. Although age does come with experience, looking for only relatively older people to fill senior leadership positions is somewhat backward thinking. Many people with great potential are often overlooked because of their youth or having worked with the organization for only a short time. Granted that an individual must have worked with an organization for quite some time for them to be considered for leadership positions, the age and experience requirements should be flexible enough to accommodate all potential leaders (Kiersch & Peters, 2017) . To ensure every individual is eligible for leadership positions in terms of experience, they should be assigned leadership duties every once in a while before they become actual leaders.
The chain leadership strategy our workplace has adopted seeks to solve the problem of experience. Although positions higher up in the hierarchy are reserved for thoroughly vetted individuals, the lower ranks are used as opportunities to sharpen each individual's leadership abilities. Further, the strategy also allows individuals to familiarize themselves with the roles of the leader before taking up the position. It is easy for one to imagine they can handle leadership responsibilities when they are watching from afar. The strategy allows workers to wear the shoes and determine where they itch. An individual may be experienced and excellent in their subordinate position, but that does not mean they would be equally exemplary in leadership positions.
During leadership succession, incumbent leaders should have thorough interaction with their successors. The aspiring candidates should work under the incumbent leader for a significant amount of time while preparing to take up the role themselves. In doing so, the candidates will have an idea of the responsibilities and challenges of the leadership position they are about to fill (Holt et al., 2018) . In planning for leadership succession, organizations should also assess the incumbent leaders to determine their achievements and failures. The process is not to shame or stigmatize leaders but to ensure that their successors take the organization a notch higher. The assessment requires the cooperation of incumbent leaders with their successors so that they may advise them accordingly. On top of the cooperation, there also needs to be a separate team of a few individuals to make the assessment on the incumbent leader. Their findings, conclusion, and recommendations should be a guiding light for the next leader so that they can do better than their predecessors.
Finally and most importantly, leaders should be given room for learning. Good leaders often leave an incredible legacy that their successors are expected to live up to and surpass. However, considering that they are human beings bound to make mistakes and may not be as experienced and knowledgeable as their predecessors, succeeding leaders should be allowed enough room for improvement (Cullen-Lester et al., 2017) . The allowance does not mean that leaders have leeway for making arrogant mistakes. It means that they should not be judged by their mistakes but by what they do to correct them and how much they learn from them. Leaders should be given a peaceful and understanding space by their subordinates and seniors because leadership is a demanding task that may take a while to get used to.
Who will need to participate (at any level) in the training and development initiative?
Although not every individual can become a leader, organizations need to understand that the leadership skills they teach their employees are not just for the benefit of the organization itself. Leadership is an essential factor common in almost all areas of life. As such, every worker in the organization should participate in the training and development process. In the long term, the organization will be full of able workers who can easily fill in for leaders when they are indisposed. However, senior ranking leaders should organize the necessary committees, appoint and vet individuals for leadership positions, and impart their knowledge on the new leaders.
When will the initiative take place?
Our organization aims at empowering individuals to be better versions of themselves. Sometimes that empowerment requires them to move on to other places to impart the knowledge they have acquired to other people. As such, leadership succession is an occasional occurrence. On the other hand, leadership development is a continual process. There is always something new to learn, even for the highest-ranking leaders. New employees will be incorporated in the initiative as soon as they begin working, and older employees will be required to mentor them.
What is the basic schedule for rolling out your initiative?
The organization will have to assign some time from the general schedule to incorporate my initiative. Since most of my ideas build on the already existing strategies, they will fit perfectly with the current schedule. Senior leaders will also hold occasional meetings with all the teams to maximize the learning process.
In conclusion, leaders are not born; they are made. Although the task of leading may seem impossible, thorough training and interaction with accomplished leaders will empower each individual with the necessary skills to become good leaders.
References
Cullen-Lester, K. L., Maupin, C. K., & Carter, D. R. (2017). Incorporating social networks into
leadership development: A conceptual model and evaluation of research and practice. The
Leadership Quarterly , 28 (1), 130-152.
Holt, S., Hall, A., & Gilley, A. (2018). Essential components of leadership development
programs. Journal of Managerial Issues , 30 (2), 214-153.
Kiersch, C., & Peters, J. (2017). Leadership from the Inside Out: Student Leadership
Development within Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Frameworks. Journal of Leadership Education , 16 (1).
Moldoveanu, M., & Narayandas, D. (2019). The future of leadership development. Harvard
Business Review , 97 (2), 40-48.
