|
Executive Interviews: Interview with Jay A Conger on The Making of a CEO
January 2009
-
By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary
Jay A Conger Henry Kravis Chaired Professor of Leadership at Claremont McKenna College in California and Visiting Professor at the London Business School 
Rule Four: Measure Progress Regularly
When you collapse leadership development
and succession planning—
and thus move away from the “replacement”
mindset of succession
systems of the past—the measures of
success take a long-term view. No
longer is it sufficient to know who
could replace the CEO, but you have
to know whether the right people are
moving at the right pace into the right
jobs at the right time all theway down
the hierarchy—with the ultimate goal
of ensuring you have a solid slate of
candidates for the top job.
Rule Five: Keep it Flexible
|
|
Old-fashioned succession planning
is fairly rigid—people don’t move on
and off the list fluidly. The best-practice
organizations that we studied
practiced the Japanese notion of
kaizen or continuous improvements
in both processes and content. They
refine and adjust their systems as
they receive feedback fromline executives
and participants, monitor developments
in technology, and learn
from other leading organizations. Indeed,
despite their success, none of
the best practice companies in our research
expected their succession
management system to operate withoutmodification
formore than a year.
You have proposed an interesting
and innovative framework for attracting
and retaining talent – The Talent
Compact – in one of your articles
(“Winning the Race for Talent in
Emerging Markets”, HBR, November
2008). What are the unique challenges
in attracting and retaining talent
in emerging markets? What precautions
do you advise for the global
companies either operating in or planning
to operate in emerging markets?
Employees in the developing world
are particularly attuned to a
company’s brand because a desirable
affiliation can translate into a ticket to future opportunities. Such a ticket
takes on special importance because
in many emerging markets the majority
of the workforce is not accustomed
to thinking about their future career in
expansive terms. It’s no longer just
aboutmaking a living. Another aspect
of brand they attend to is a reputation
for inspirational leadership, the kind
that challenges employees to see how
great they can become as leaders and
how they can help build a great company
that plays on a global stage.
When it comes to job and career opportunity,
there’s considerable overlap
between desires in the developed
and developing worlds: challenging
work; stretch assignments; continuous
training and development; and
competitive pay. In the context of
emerging markets, however, opportunity
must translate into the likelihood
of an accelerated career track to senior
positions. Growth isn’t just about
climbing the ladder, though; high-potential
employees are willing to make
lateralmoves as long as they continue
to build a portfolio of skills and experience
at a pace that matches the
growth of their markets.
In emergingmarkets, employees prize
the chance to join a company with a
game—changing business model, the
chance to be a part of redefining their
nation and the world economy. They
also are attracted to a mission focused
on helping the unfortunate—many
have experienced first-hand the impact
of poverty—and a statement that
expresses the value of global citizenry.
The company’s culture matters in
several distinctiveways in the context
of emerging markets. First, the
company’s “story”—its brand promise—
has to feel authentic. Second,
people must be rewarded for reasons
of merit; a high-potential employee
fromBrazil or Dubaimust believe that
the executive suite in China or the UK
or America is within reach. Third,
though they want to be recognized for
individual achievement, they also
want to feel a connection with their teams. Finally, the culture has to be
truly “talent-centric”—people have to
really believe that they’re critical to the
company’s success. Should all the CEOs necessarily be
leaders? Can all the leaders be CEOs?
When boards make their CEO hiring
decisions, what do you think should
be the guiding principles?
Yes, all CEOs should be leaders. That
said, many do not possess enough
depth of leadership ability. Many
leaders, however, cannot become
CEOs. There is an immense level of
complexity in the CEO role. It requires
years of seasoning and depth
in an industry or sector. You have to
have a deep strategic sense which I
find many managers lack. You must
be able to relate to a broad range of
external and internal constituents. Finally,
you need a real depth of finance
today. So few individuals possess the
critical mass of these qualities to become
an effective CEO.
1.
The CEO Compensation Controversy Case Study
2. ICMR
Case Collection
3.
Case Study Volumes
|
