Ron's Reflections

This Article from HBR identifies critical competencies new leaders require to be successful when jumping from individual contributor to leader.

It is also a good guide for existing leaders who are developing high potentials for their first formal leadership role as well as a reminder of the basic skills for all leaders – regardless of experience, level, or title.

A couple other thoughts to consider:

⏺ As the author points out, we should be working with individual contributors to develop these skills BEFORE we place them in a formal leadership role. Developing high performing individual contributors as INFORMAL leaders well before they make the leap to a formal role creates an environment where everyone can be successful.

⏺ Too often folks look for titles to validate their ability or authority to lead. Informal leaders – those willing to lead when called on, lead by example, and mentor other team members – are a crucial part of our overall leadership team and critical to team growth and success.