Meaningful Aspirations Create New Leadership Requirements

Earlier this week I had coffee with the CEO of a successful wealth management firm. He shared an exciting vision for the future. Today his firm manages approximately $3 billion in assets. His goal is to grow that to $10 billion.

What struck me wasn't the ambition of the goal. It was what he said next: “I can see the path to $10 billion. But I don't think my executive team, or I, are yet the leaders capable of leading a firm of that size.”

That level of self-awareness is uncommon.

Many leaders can describe the future they want to create. Fewer recognize that every meaningful future places new demands on the people responsible for creating it. As we talked, I found myself reflecting on an important distinction. Many leadership conversations begin with direction:  “Where are we going?” That's an essential question. But every executive team eventually arrives at another question, one that may be even more important:

“Given the future we've chosen, what kind of leaders must we become?”

That's where the real work begins.

Too often, leader development becomes generic. Organizations send people to seminars, launch coaching programs, or build competency models without first asking what their future will actually require of them. Leader development must support organizational aspiration. The capabilities that created yesterday's success are not always the ones that will create tomorrow's.

Before we ask, “How can we become better leaders?” we should first ask, “Better for what?”

That’s a profoundly strategic question. It brings clarity to the specific leadership capabilities an organization must develop. It turns leadership development from a generic exercise into a strategic investment. One of the questions I find myself asking more frequently is this:

“Given the future you're pursuing, what must become true about you, your leadership team, and your organization for that future to become reality?”

I've found that question changes the conversation. It shifts the focus from improving leadership in general to developing the leadership the future actually requires. I've come to believe that meaningful aspirations create new leadership requirements. One of the highest responsibilities of executive leadership is not simply envisioning the future, but becoming the kind of leaders capable of bringing that future to life.

A Question Worth Considering

If you're leading an organization through growth, transition, succession, or significant change, take a few minutes with your executive team and wrestle with this question:

“Given the future we're pursuing, what kind of leaders will we need to become?”

Don't answer it too quickly. It's one of those questions that has a way of opening the door to other important conversations. And if you'd value a trusted thought partner to help your executive team think through that question, and identify the leadership your future will require, that's the work I most enjoy.

I'd welcome the opportunity to have that conversation.