In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper are joined by Brad Lomenick to talk about the process of developing leaders internally or hiring them from outside an organization and all the decisions that go into that. It is a nebulous and challenging process for leaders, so the hosts try to walk through the various choices to add a little clarity. They discuss the following:

* Where do we find new leaders?

* When should you hire vs. when should you promote?

* When is the right time to re-position a leader (lateral move) versus promoting someone to leadership for the first time?

* Is it true that every time moves into a new leadership position are they a “new leader” to be developed again?

* How do you promote someone without offending the rest of their peers?

BEST QUOTES

“Look first internally then to your network.”

“The very last resort is looking through a stack of resumes.”

“There’s a risk in hiring your close friends.”

“When all things are equal promote from within.”

“You always need to be cultivating new streams of development. That’s why internships are so important.”

“Promotion shouldn’t be a shock to someone’s system.”

“Practice like you’re the starter.”

“Sometimes you have someone you want to promote but there’s simply a better option elsewhere.”

“Whatever level you are at, part of your job description is to develop the people around you.”

“You look at a resume and you come away with almost no information.”

“70% of leadership is transferable laterally, from position to position.”

“Come in as the hungry second, not the satisfied first.”

“As a leader you can’t help if someone is self-aggrandizing and delusional.”

“In a healthy organization the people who didn’t get promoted will continue to be active contributors to the team.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Team of Teams by Stanley McChrystal

How Google Works by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg