Preparing Your Next Generation of Leaders
Part I: Identifying Key Competency Deficits

Do the math:

• One Baby Boomer retires every eight seconds - including organizational leaders, who average 58 years old.
• There are 11% fewer Gen Xers than Baby Boomers - and GenY won’t be ready to lead for years.

If you can make sure your people are ready, you’ll gain a huge competitive advantage. That’s why we asked senior executive development pros about the strengths and weaknesses of tomorrow’s leaders. This month, we’ll share what they told us. (Next month, we’ll tell you what to do about it.)

First, the good news…
Our respondents believe the next generation of leaders possesses many talents - notably:

• A high integrity mindset
• The ability to deliver results and prioritize multiple demands
• Operational mastery
• Advanced technology skills

But there’s plenty lacking…
But our respondents also identified several key competencies many emerging leaders lack. Here are the top five:

1. Strategic thinking
2. Leading change
3. Ability to create a vision and engage others around it
4. Ability to inspire
5. Understand the total enterprise and how parts work together

These five competency gaps boil down to two fundamental capabilities:

1. Critical thinking skills, which underlie strategic thinking, the ability to create a vision, and the ability to understand the total enterprise and how parts work together. Leaders must comfortably climb to the 30,000-foot view, analyze dynamic systems, adeptly analyze information, and quickly make decisions across levels. They must be able to stand back from day-to-day functions, sort through complexity, and see where value is truly being created.
2. Positively motivating and influencing others, which drives the ability to lead change, inspire others, and engage employees around a single vision. Successful strategic leadership requires keen social intelligence, and empathy that empowers and energizes.

Help emerging leaders develop these two fundamental capabilities, and you’ll accelerate their development everywhere that matters most - so, when the baton is passed, they will be ready. Next month, we’ll show you how.

Time to Put Your Business Managers To The Test!

If the forecast for January was 120 units, and actual demand was 135 units, using exponential smoothing technique, what would be the forecast for February if the smoothing constant is 0.10?

1. 25.5 units
2. 121.5 units
3. 127.5 units
4. 229.5 units

In cross-cultural communication, high-context cultures:

1. Value expertise and performance
2. Make agreements on the basis of general trust
3. Like efficient negotiations
4. Like to get down to business right away

These questions are examples from a unique exam for the Certified Business Manager (CBM) certification offered by the Association of Professionals in Business Management (APBM). The idea behind the CBM credential, as well as the Certified Associate Business Manager (CABM) credential, resides in the concept behind existing testing in other professions as with bar exams or medical boards.

The intent of the CABM and CBM exams is to verify what businesspeople know about topics related to categories like marketing, manufacturing, operations and human resources. The one-part, four-hour CABM exam is based on a pre-MBA curriculum and provides a solid foundation for individuals seeking an MBA degree and/or the CBM credential. The four-part, 16-hour CBM exam could become the business world's equivalent of the bar exam or the medical boards--perhaps something new MBA grads will have to pass to demonstrate their competency.

APBM is blazing trails. Since it began testing, APBM has granted certifications to more than 4,000 professionals. APBM certificants work at some of the world’s leading companies.

To learn more about the CABM and CBM self-study online learning system, click here.

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(Sample Question Answer 1: B; Sample Question Answer 2: B)

Thinking About Your 2010 Training?

It's that time of year again...planning and budgeting season. The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) estimates in its recently released 2009 State of the Industry Report that U.S. organizations spent $134 billion on employee learning and development in 2008. This total includes expenditures for both the internal learning function and external learning such as workshops or events. ASTD believes that while organizations had to cut costs, workplace learning didn't take a severe hit. It should be no surprise, however, that in today's economic climate it's as critical as ever to ensure your training plan addresses your organization's needs.

Maybe you're ahead of the game and have already thought through your training plan and budget for 2010, but maybe you're like many who are just now beginning to explore what the 2010 training landscape will resemble. We've got a few suggestions to help keep your thinking clear during the process.
Assess Your Efforts: Learn from your past training efforts. What went well? What didn't quite hit the mark? Did participants suggest new training they'd like to see offered? Were there any training opportunities you couldn't offer due to insufficient resources?

Solicit Input: Invest the time to discover what your organization's groups truly need. Perhaps a team is faced with transitioning to new software or technology in the coming year, or maybe two groups are being consolidated and must learn how to thrive in the new group's dynamics. Talking with your key internal customers will help ensure that your plan incorporates training to address some of the more specific needs.

Plan for Measurement: One of the biggest challenges to training is having the participant implement in their day-to-day job the knowledge they gained in training. Think of how you will measure the success of that transfer.

Determine Delivery Methods: Consider all of the options that are available for training delivery. Some topics are best suited for instructor-led training while others lend themselves to self-directed online learning. Be sure to match the intended outcome to the delivery method. For instance, if the training is for the two newly consolidated groups, using only self-directed online learning where participants are in their own silos isn't necessarily conducive to enhancing the group's collaborative dynamics.

The good news is you don't have to tackle your organization's training alone. A partner like Pearson can assist with any portion or all of the total process, from planning through development and delivery. To learn more about how we can help you create a solid and successful 2010 training plan, contact us.