The Coming Leadership Gap: What You Can Do About It

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With that knowledge base, you can offer training programs and assignments that help you and your people build on your strong points and shore up your weak areas. The more you encourage feedback and open discussion in the office, the more strides you and your team will make in leading people effectively—and your organization's performance will improve.

That brings us to skill No. 2: strategic planning, which calls for translating vision into realistic business strategies. Ann Mulcahy, who recently retired as the CEO of Xerox (XRX), offers a great example of this skill in action. She became CEO when Xerox was on the verge of bankruptcy and led a remarkable turnaround. By working closely with her top executives and listening carefully to clients, Mulcahy identified several strategic keys to success—reengaging with customers through a strong sales team, launching innovative products driven by investments in R&D, and reinventing the company's approach to managing operating expenses.

She developed a detailed vision of the future for Xerox, linked it to a series of concrete objectives, and got her colleagues on board with the plan. As Bill George recounts in his fine book True North, one of Mulcahy's first moves as CEO involved asking her top 100 executives to stay and fight for the company's future—and 98 of them did. No one can sustain excellence without the right team.

Strategic Planning Fundamentals

Mulcahy embodied the fundamentals of strategic planning. First, once you have a good strategy, it's absolutely crucial to share it throughout your organization. If no one understands what you're trying to achieve, no one will buy in. Executives, to be honest, often struggle with communicating strategy. They tell their management team what needs to be done. They send out a memo or two to the entire organization. Then they assume everything is taken care of. It's not, of course—which is why so many smart strategies ultimately fail.

As you share the strategy, arrange training to help colleagues develop their own expertise in strategic planning. Remember, you want this to be a fundamental skill throughout your organization. At the same time, cast a wide net. Involve young leaders in developing your strategy, talk about it with your frontline employees. The more input you get from your men and women, the better. After all, they are the ones who will bring the strategy to life.

There's no question we can build greater skill at leading people and strategic planning in ourselves and our organizations. But making it happen requires a sense of urgency—and knowing that the leadership gap will only widen if we stand by waiting for it to correct itself. If you and the leaders in your organization work on these skills a little every day, the cumulative impact will be enormous. You will be a better leader yourself. The overall leadership capacity in your company will expand. And you will have the leadership skills needed to tackle the challenges that are bound to come your way over the next few years.

John R. Ryan is president of the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked, global provider of executive education. He previously served as chancellor of the State University of New York and superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. He was a pilot during a 35-year in the Navy, retiring as a vice-admiral.

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