There is no lack of challenges in most organisations. The problem might be more about making sure that leaders are stretched through the right challenges for their development.
For some leaders, you might want to look for complex problems that stretch them. These would be situations that disrupt their habitual ways of thinking and functioning. They could also require the leader to work with new groups, particularly those with different agendas and concerns.
To bring out the best in other leaders you might look for assignments which could bring out their full potential such as:
- Those that represent a first-time experience for that leader
- Ones that are important to the organisation but include an element of risk
- Projects that have a short turnaround time, increase the scope of what the leader is typically involved in or place them in a horizontal task requiring them to work across functional lines.
The Leaders’ Debate is used when a leader is in the midst of making a significant decision. The leader:
- Defines the question he/she wants to bring to the debate
- Forms a team of leaders and invites them to the debate
- Assembles relevant data
- Frames the decision so far
- Holds the debate meeting providing safety for the best thinking and demands rigor and authenticity from those in the debate
- At the end of the debate the leader makes the decision and communicates it along with rationale to those in the debate.