Our experience has lead us to believe that much of leadership talent is hard-wired in people before they reach their early or mid -twenties. That means, as far as leadership is concerned, people are reasonably complete packages by the time they arrive at the corporate doorstep. Their ability to lead has already been shaped by the multitude of factors and experiences that took root early in their lives. Some of these experiences were within their control; many others were happenstance.
We have followed individuals at many organizations as their careers progressed and have found a remarkable stability and consistency in virtually all aspects of their behavior over time. Simply put, people do not change very much once they enter the corporate world, and the changes are mainly a matter of a consolidation of strengths – or a downward drift in behavior that needs improvement. For some fortunate individuals, all the elements of exceptional leadership are in place. For many others, formal development programs will not automatically transform them into superior leaders, as they were butterflies emerging from cocoons.
Unfortunately, though, many companies tend to focus their energies on developing leaders rather than on accurately identifying them in the first place. We believe corporate leadership development programs can certainly produce an abundance of better managers: They do a fine job of communicating standards, establishing expectations, and setting direction. But they are not effective corporate assembly lines for manufacturing exemplary leadership skills.