Let’s assume you’re starting big:

• Step 1: Start with clear goals for the team and clear expectations for your leaders. Clear goals seem obvious, but this isn’t just about targets—it also includes quality, the well-being of the people, etc. Clear expectations are about WHAT the leader must/can do and what they can’t, but also about HOW.
• Step 2: Look at your systems. How do you evaluate/reward and select people? How do you approach projects? What can leaders decide for themselves, and where do they need permission? Does this align with your expectations for your leaders? The goal is mainly to ensure that the systems and procedures you have are supporting the leadership behaviors you expect, rather than hindering them. This is a long-term effort, so start small and continue working on it while progressing through the other steps.
• Step 3: Look for exemplary behavior. Chances are, many of the leaders are already doing the right things. Reinforce this, but also do the opposite. Clearly indicate what is not acceptable and make this known in practice.
• Step 4: Take a critical look at the individuals in leadership positions. Are they the right person for the job? In a previous blog, we wrote about four key focuses or predictors (the right motivation, the desire to serve, emotional intelligence, and whether the leader believes they can do the job). The goal is not to deny a group of people their leadership role, but to have a conversation with everyone and place the right person in the right role. Leadership is about a role and responsibilities, and with clear agreements, you can distribute these effectively.
• Step 5: Work on your leaders’ skills. A supportive context, clear expectations, exemplary behavior, and the right attitude give a leader a strong head start. But without the right knowledge (e.g., do they know what motivates someone, how to deal with change, how to intervene in a team dynamic, etc.?), the necessary skills (e.g., giving feedback, resolving conflicts, having courageous conversations, helping someone grow, etc.), and the opportunity to practice (and sometimes fail), the potential is not yet fully realized. Provide learning opportunities and support during practice.
• Step 6: Sit down with a nice drink in a comfortable place (with or without colleagues who helped you) and enjoy your hard work.
• Step 7: Critically review Steps 1 through 5 and continue to improve.

  Now, if you can’t start on such a large scale, that’s okay. Doing nothing is often the worst thing you can do. Do you feel that you also want to focus on leadership development in your organization but find it hard to follow all the steps? No problem. If you want to start smaller, do what you can. It can sometimes be more efficient to follow a logic, but know that you can switch gears faster when things are smaller. Take that as your strength. Gather a group of like-minded individuals, see which of the above steps you need most and where you can have an impact from your position. For example, you can still create a small charter around what you expect from leaders (Step 1). This gives some clarity and makes it easier to look for exemplary behavior (Step 3). Sit down with the people who select leaders, share with them our 4 key focuses or predictors and have a good conversation about it (Step 4). Switch to Step 6 and repeat often to recharge your own batteries. Ask the existing leaders what they would like to learn and how you can support them (Step 5). When new tools or procedures come in, do a leadership check: how can this be adjusted to make leadership easier (Step 2). As you can see, it doesn’t all have to be grand. Occasionally making small interventions will already help your leaders grow a lot.