Business credentials and leadership development. They sound comparable at face value. After all, when companies look to hire someone with an MBA, or when candidates begin to make search inquiries like “what is a BBA degree,” these efforts are done in the hopes of putting someone in a leadership position.
The problem is that the credential itself does not necessarily translate perfectly into the skills needed to be a strong leader.
Knowledge is great, but leadership is all about execution. In this article, we take a look at how these two priorities are distinct while still operating in the same ecosystem.
What Do We Mean By Business Credentials?
Business credentials could refer to any degree or certification that qualifies a person for a job. These are the kinds of things that show up neatly on a resume and are deliberately sought after by HR departments.
A master’s degree, a certification for handling certain types of processes, a specialized license, etc. These aspects of the credentialing process are important, to be sure, but in an increasingly competitive job landscape, they are also often just the tip of the iceberg.
They’re also not necessarily adequately calibrated for the needs of most businesses. Anyone who has ever had to hire someone for an important role before knows that the resume is just a starting point. What’s really important is how that person functions in a professional environment.
Leadership skills are the B-side of that equation, and they’re harder to quantify.
What Is Meant By Leadership Development?
Leadership development could involve a credentialing component, but the definition might ultimately be more subjective. In other words, leadership development could mean very different things depending on the business.
Generally speaking, it will involve both training and compliance with a measurable set of expectations, ideally designed to promote a targeted company culture.
This can be easier said than done, but it’s an important aspect of developing a successful talent pipeline. Businesses that want good leaders need first to define what strong leadership looks like for them.
From there, they need to be able to develop a process through which strong candidates are consistently made.
Businesses Need to Invest In Both
To be clear, the position here is simple. Credentials are important and leadership development are important. As a business, you want to invest in both.
From a credentialing perspective, the process at least is more straightforward in that it requires only money. You can spend that money in one of two different ways.
- One, you can target people who already have an MBA or a comparable credential. This can be expensive in that most people in this position are looking for jobs that pay six-figure salaries, but it’s the fastest way to acquire talented and knowledgeable leaders.
- Two, or develop your own graduate-level employees. The other option is to foster a culture of continuing education through incentives. Provide tuition assistance for people who want to seek an advanced credential. Make it clear what kind of benefits they will receive for going through the process. This strategy is also expensive and slower, but it does give you more control over your talent pipeline.
Many businesses will do a little bit of both.
There’s actually something to be said for a strong credentialing development program, even if it does take longer than just hiring people who already have the skills you’re looking for. Employees tend to stick around longer and perform better in an environment where they can clearly see how hard work will be rewarded.
You create those conditions when you develop a strong credentialing process.
Developing leadership skills is a different category, and the process of doing it can be a little trickier. In the next few headings, we’ll take a look at what leadership development looks like.
First, Define What Qualities You’re Looking For
We touched on this already. Good leadership is not an objective standard. You need to instead identify 10, 15, possibly even 20-plus characteristics that a good leader would have by the standards of your company.
Once you pinpoint those qualities, it’s possible to develop trainings, processes, and systems that facilitate the results you’re looking for.
You don’t necessarily need to only look for candidates who already display the traits you’ve identified. Certainly, it can be helpful to do so, but it may needlessly narrow your candidate pool.
Instead, look more widely for people who could develop those traits under the right conditions. Businesses that can develop talent will almost always have much better staffing outcomes than those who have to buy it.
Second, Develop Metrics to Track Performance
Once you’ve identified the qualities that you’re looking for, the next step is to develop systems to measure them as accurately as possible.
The data might, for example, prioritize a specific employee retention rate or productivity outcomes. It doesn’t necessarily matter what you’re tracking, more that you’re tracking something.
Without data, you’re really just guessing if your leadership criteria is being met.
Third, Provide High-Quality Resources That Support Your Goals
Once you’ve figured out what you want, it’s time to develop a framework that makes that outcome not only possible, but probable.
That could involve trainings, mentorship, regular meetings with higher-ups, and so on. The goal is to ensure that leaders have a support network that is designed to encourage the results you’re looking for.
Some of these resources might take place in a college classroom, but they don’t necessarily have to. It could involve consultation services, internally designed training, or really any criteria that makes sense for your business.
Again, there’s not an objective framework for developing talent. Success hinges on understanding your own needs and providing support adequate for realizing your desired results.
Conclusion
Developing a high-quality talent pipeline can take time and almost certainly a fairly significant amount of trial and error.
At the end of the day, though, it’s more accessible than you’re probably imagining. The first, and most impactful step is absolutely to figure out what you’re looking for in a leader.
The credentialing side of this process is going to be the most straightforward component. You’ll have to identify the skills carefully by considering your overall business goals.
You will figure it out in time.
If you need to accelerate the process, you can consider the services of a business consultation firm, ideally one that has helped with talent development in industries similar to your own.
No matter how you go about it, it will cost money, but if you’re targeting the right traits, it’s an extremely worthwhile investment.
