From the course: Leadership Styles, Behaviors, and Approaches

Stories from the field: Managers identify and promote talent

From the course: Leadership Styles, Behaviors, and Approaches

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Stories from the field: Managers identify and promote talent

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- Top leaders are always on the lookout for the next generation. I teach college, and a few years ago, one of my slightly older, non-traditional students wanted my advice after class. She was a supervisor at a large retail store that's part of a regional chain. She said for the past few weeks, the store's general manager asked her to do some projects that were normally part of his role, like making the schedule and other managerial tasks. She wasn't sure why. I said, "Do you consider your manager to be fair, hardworking, professional?" She said, "Absolutely, he's fantastic. That's why I'm confused." We talked for another minute and I said, "If I had to guess, I think he's preparing you for a promotion." I said, "It's true that some organizations give people extra work without proper compensation, but in this case, I think he's making sure you're ready for the next level." Two weeks later, she said, "Well, you were right. He just got promoted to the corporate office and offered me his job." I've seen this pattern many times. Top leaders look around and notice who's already acting like a leader, who's already taking initiative. They may even give them special projects along the way to see if they can handle more responsibility. Then when a leadership opening eventually appears, they simply make it official and promote the person who was already leading informally. So you may get your opportunity sooner than you think.

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