Your executives are probably getting briefed on the measurable traits of high-performing leaders before they going into the talent meetings where they're choosing which individuals in which to invest their development dollars. This is where they discuss, calibrate and agree on the assessed performance and potential of key players in the business. Wouldn't it be interesting to understand their criteria and use it as a way to guide your own leadership development planning?

The premise is that building your development plan to focus on the leadership attributes that have been shown by research to predict who will perform well at higher levels is probably a good bet. It also makes sense to find out what your company uses as its specific criteria to assess talent to guide you as you prioritize your development activities.

Companies use different frameworks to organize their thinking around spotting high potential future leaders. A popular one is the Seven Signposts, by KornFerry, based...

Your executives are probably getting briefed on the measurable traits of high-performing leaders before they're going into talent meetings where they're choosing which individuals to invest their development dollars in.

Wouldn't it be interesting to have these as a way to guide your leadership development plan for yourself?

I'm going to walk you through them. I help women who want to build careers that they love by driving their own development to do that.

So the premise is building your own development plan and focusing on the leadership attributes that have been shown by research to predict high-performing leaders is probably a good way to go.

I have a development planning template that's focused on these, which you can get at fullpotentialrealized.com/leader

These are the Seven Signposts. KornFerry has a framework which is based on 30 years of research. And seven is a lot so I'm not going to say that all leadership teams use all of them, but...

Every time I read a report about women in business like the one that came out last week from McKinsey and Lean In, it occurs to me that women need to take their advancement into their own hands.

Register for my live masterclass here.

That means generating multiple options that will provide them with choices. That means owning their leadership and skill development as well as building relationships that will create opportunities.

Some work environments are better than others. Companies have great intentions and are trying to figure out how to make it fairer for women, yet in many cases change is happening quite slowly. We see it across industries and over time. I know from being on the inside just how complex it is to transform dynamics that have been in place.

Partnering with your company to build a career you love is ideal, and the more active your engagement in driving your path, the better you will fare.

In my upcoming free masterclass, I’ll lay out a three-pronged approach...

Imagine you’d like to take on more responsibility, complexity, scope, impact, and/or be promoted to the next level in your organization. How much time is enough time to start your promotion planning before you hope to move forward?

Leaving ample time to prepare yourself and implement your promotion plan is part logistical and part mindset issue. Allowing enough time to thoroughly research your proposed advancement can help you put your best foot forward.  As we’ve already discussed, before you ever initiate a promotion conversation with your manager, you would have already: 

·          Ensured your performance has differentiated you positively 

·          Gotten to know norms and people involved in the promotion process 

·          Established and begun to build trusting relationships...