1. Facilitating leadership continuity, building talent and capacity within the National System of Innovation (NSI). A Competency or Leadership Dilemma? LIASA & CiCD Winter Seminar National Library of South Africa (NLSA) 29 June 2009 Co-presenters: Dr Daisy Selematsela (NRF) Dr Martie van de Venter (CSIR)

2. Outline Part 1 (Non technical competencies)
Is it necessary? Succession planning in a nutshell
Best Practices
Organisational Realities
Now what?
Building capacity at all levels
Part 2 (Technical competencies)
Practical Case Study scenario

3. Succession Planning in a nutshell
Conventional view:
“Succession planning is key to retention of leadership skills and organisations need to plan for succession of individuals to survive”
“It is all about developing capable individuals in line with organisational strategies”

4. Succession Planning Best Practices
Identify key competencies needed by leadership team in line with strategy
Define key competencies
Identify current organisational competency through assessment tools – KPA, PDP, PDC
Prepare individual development plans
Assign mentors and coaches
Provide training & development opportunities
Integrate it with EE, Skills Development & other HR initiatives
Recruit the right people
Retain your top talent

5. Organisational Realities
Changing world of work….
Leadership dilemmas – transformational vs transactional
Effective succession planning essential tool to address diversity and leadership
Succession planning becoming a Board/Council priority
Competitive advantage
Closed processes

6. Leadership Dilemmas “Here today, gone tomorrow” (Gregory P. Smith)
Demand for effective managers continues to grow
Research conducted nationally & international confirms that a significant number of organisations will see 40% - 50% of their Executives leave in the next 5 years (Byham 1999)

7. Leadership Dilemmas – 8 elements
Smith’s 8 elements that high-retention orgs have in common:
Purpose – personal fulfillment & meaning
Caring management – “there are no bad soldiers – only bad leaders”
Work schedules that allow work/life balance – downsizing outs family 2nd
Honest updated information and communication
People want to enjoy their work environment
Performance management should be motivational and not punitive
Rewards & recognition should make people feel appreciated
Employees migrate to training and development opportunities

8. Leadership Dilemmas
“Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done “ (L Bossidy & R Chan)
According to Chan – CEO & senior team allot less than half a day each year to review plans – people, strategy & operation
This is a formula for failure
You need:
robust dialogue to surface the realities of business
Accountability for results to get things done…& you need follow-through to ensure plans are on track.

9. Leadership Dilemmas “Predictable Surprises” (Bazerman & Watkins)
Were the earth-shuttering events of September predictable, or were they a surprise?
Disasters are preceded by clear warning signals that leaders either miss or purposefully ignore!
5 reasons why leaders are most likely to be “surprised”: We!
Tend to have positive illusions to conclude that a problem doesn’t exist or isn’t severe enough to merit action
Tend to interpret events in an egocentric manner by accrediting blame in ways that are self-serving
Overly discount the future, reducing our courage to act now to prevent some disaster that we believe to be quite distant
Tend to maintain the status quo & refuse to accept any harm that would bring about a greater good.
Rather than confronting unpalatable choices, we avoid action altogether.
Most of us don’t invest in preventing a problem that we have not personally experienced.
We only fix problems after we ourselves or those close to us experience significant harm.

10. Leadership Dilemmas
“Managing Transitions: Making the most of change” (William Bridges)
“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Change is not the same as transition. Change is situational; the new site, boss, team, roles or new policy. Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal”
“Accountability Revolution” (M Samuel & B Novak)
“Accountability means that people can count on one another to keep performance commitments & communication agreements”

11. Leadership Dilemmas : Anatomy of accountability
Clear intention
Interlocking ownership
Effective execution
Relentless attack of dysfunctional habits
Responsive recovery
Relentless measuring of results
Create a clear picture of success stated as a result
Each person deals with their part of the project as if they own the whole project
Clear guidelines aroung coordination, timing, communication, actions etc
Surface & address habits that are impending on the teams success
Be prepared from the starting gate to handle the inevitable project glitches
Frequent check-ins to ensure the project is on track.

12. Leadership Dilemmas:
“Everyone a Leader: A grassroots model for the new workplace”
(H Bergmann, K Hudson, D Rust-Eft)
“Organisations need people at every level with the courage & the skill to step up to leadership opportunities, whether they are formally designated leaders or not”
Just remember to CLIMB:
Create a compelling future
Let the customer drive the organisation
Involve every mind
Manage work horizontally
Build personal credibility

13. Building capacity at all levels
The proposed approach to creating a solid foundation of high performing leadership:
“building an in-depth leadership team, rather than simply developing capable individuals”.
The 3 levels to be considered:
Level 1 – Foundations of Leadership
Level 2 – Team Leadership
Level 3 – Organisational Leadership

14. Mastering of skills Facilitate use of those skills with teams
Foundations of Leadership:
team development,
Delegation
Communication & Leadership
Project management
Facilitate use of those skills with teams
Team Leadership:
Problem solving for leaders
Decision making
Conflict management
Effective meetings
Organisational Leadership:
360 Feedback
Social intelligence
Emotional Intelligence
Storytelling
Crucial leadership skills
Self-mastery “know yourself,
express yourself,
Control of your interactions with others”

15. Significant approaches related to Quality Service Delivery!
Building capacity at all levels
Ensuring a diverse succession plan
Knowledge Management – Dr Martie van de Venter’s slot to focus on KM!