By Lisa Martin and Betsy Jordyn

Companies with great talent at the top outperform the competition. There are many studies supporting this premise, but if you are a senior leader then your gut and experience tell you the statement is true.

Leaders know that organizations thrive when talented and committed people are at the helm, customers thrive when they receive stellar products and services, and employees thrive when they can enjoy their work environments. As a leader, you thrive because you are able to achieve outstanding business results and have the satisfaction that comes with delivering a job well done.

On the other hand, when questionable or less effective talent lead, the entire organization suffers. Employees suffer, business results suffer, and your company’s reputation suffers. In addition, you suffer because much of your precious time is eaten up by questions that plague you about these individuals and the consequences of their ineffectiveness.

The key question you may be asking yourself is: How do I ensure that those positioned for future leadership roles are not only the right ones to run my business but also that they are ready?

How to evaluate whether you’ve got top talent by using the Five C’s

The first step in maximizing your talent is to determine if the people you are considering for leadership positions are, indeed, the best choice. The Five C’s provides a framework to help you evaluate the individuals you plan to have take over senior roles in your organization, from the perspective of what they can do and who they are.

Chemistry: Does this individual fit well with the company’s culture and values? Does his or her personality match well with your personality and those of your other senior leaders?

Competence: Does this person have a proven track record of success? Does he or she demonstrate his or her effectiveness in delivering results in a variety of leadership roles? Does this individual possess the technical abilities required, as well as the core executive leadership abilities such as strategic planning, developing alliances with others in the organization, building strong teams, etc.?

Capacity: Does he or she demonstrate the ability to take on increasing amounts of responsibility? Can this person sort to the highest priorities and manage time well?

Courage: Can this individual face challenges and opportunities with dignity and grace? Does he or she take measured risks both in terms of running a business and finding ways to better himself or herself? Is this individual balanced at sharing his or her opinion and supporting decisions after they are made?

Character: Does this person possess true character as defined by “moral compass”? Character represents integrity, which means doing the right things because they are right. Character is also about trustworthiness, as in: Does what this individual says match what he or she does? Can his or her words be counted on? Character is about taking responsibility for failures, as well as successes. Most importantly, character is about how someone treats people from all walks of life and leadership levels.

The largest consideration in determining if you have the right person in your succession plan is about character because:

1. Character breeches can take you and your company down, as we have witnessed with Enron and BP.
2. Character challenges destroy corporate cultures and make workplaces miserable, as well as non-productive, repressive, and incapable of retaining top talent.
3. Character traits are not impossible to change, but doing so requires a great deal of work and sacrifice.

Using the Five C’s to Coach High Potential Talent

You hope that everyone in your succession plan is strong in all five of the C’s. But that is not always the case. Here are some tips to help you develop each of the C’s:

Leadership Area	Coaching Tips to Maximize Talent
Chemistry	Immerse the individual in the company’s history, values and purpose Expose the individual to letters, emails, etc. from satisfied customers Provide the individual with unstructured social time with key senior leaders who embody the culture and values of the organization
Competence	Give him or her growth assignments in areas outside of current functional area Provide the individual with executive coach and mentors
Capacity	Provide him or her with a time management and efficiency coach Provide the individual with other career-life balance tools and resources
Courage	Provide a mentor or an executive coach to help this individual grow his or her genuine self-esteem Provide opportunities with increasing risk to allow the individual to demonstrate courage
Character	Create opportunities to build on positive character traits Assess character development areas and determine if individual is coachable Provide the conditions and consequences to correct character challenges

Can leaders with character challenges really change?

With most coaching issues, you can easily determine whether the person in question is coachable and can learn. To accomplish this, look for indicators on how responsive the person is to feedback and how well he or she takes advantage of resources. In addition, observe the person’s sense of commitment to his or her own development plans, etc.

On the other hand, coaching individuals with character issues can be far more complex. In those cases, you have to determine coaching readiness by what happens at the “stop sign.” The “stop sign” is the point at which you or someone in your organization provides this individual with: direct feedback or the results from his or her 360-degree assessment, or even prevents the individual from taking advantage of an opportunity because of his or her questionable behavior.

Following are some indicators that your high potential leader is responding well to your “stop sign.” Your leader is demonstrating a true readiness for change if he or she:

1. Admits fully to the character issues and resulting choices without denial or minimization.
2. Acknowledges that the character issues and resulting choices were wrong unconditionally and offers no justifications.
3. Acknowledges that his or her behavior was a choice, not a loss of control or momentary lapse in judgment.
4. Recognizes the effect that the character issues and resulting choices have had on others, including the organization, customers/clients, direct reports, peers, etc., and is willing to accept others’ disappointment and loss of trust in him or her.
5. Demonstrates empathy for the damage he or she has done without feeling self-pity.
6. Develops new behaviors to replace the ones he or she has displayed.
7. Makes amends for the damage done.
8. Accepts consequences for actions without whining about missed opportunities or delays in future promotions.

Alternatively, if your talented leader is either unready or unwilling to change their behavior they will act differently at the “stop sign.” They will be more upset by negative feedback or potential negative consequences to themselves than truly experiencing remorse for his or her actions and their impact on others. It is likely that all you will get from these individuals is lip service and short-term surface change, at best.

When your star talent excel technically and show great potential, sometimes you can let their professional results outweigh their character challenges. However, history tells us that the negative impact on your business will be substantial if character issues are not identified, stopped and changed for the betterment of the individual and the organization.

If your high-potential leader repeatedly does not pay attention to the “stop sign,” you must consider termination as the only logical solution. No amount of coaching or investment in the development of such an individual will change his or her behavior.

The Bottom Line

Having the right people on the bus in the right seats is not easy feat. When you have it, the ride is a joy. And when you don’t, it can be a nightmare. The only way to ensure a smooth ride is to be very cautious on who you let on the bus. Take the time up front to truly evaluate who you have planned to take over senior roles in your organization not just from the perspective of what they can do but who they are.

© Copyright 2011. Lisa Martin. All rights reserved.