How to Develop Strong Enterprise Leaders

Sehrish Naeem says :
Enterprise leaders must be able to

(1) Make Decisions That Are Good For The Business As A Whole
(2) Evaluate The Talent On Their Teams

To do both they need to recognize that business functions are distinct managerial subcultures, each with its own mental models and language. Effective leaders understand the different ways that professionals in finance, marketing, operations, HR, and R&D approach business problems, and the various tools (discounted cash flow, customer segmentation, process flow, succession planning, stage gates, and the like) that each discipline applies. Leaders must be able to speak the language of all the functions and translate for them when necessary. And critically, leaders must know the right questions to ask and the right metrics for evaluating and recruiting people to manage areas in which they themselves are not experts.

In addition to assigning him to a high-performing unit, company should had strong systems in place for evaluating and developing talent in key functions. These included well-crafted systems for performance reviews and 360-degree feedback, and for collecting input from corporate functions. Heads of finance and HR, for instance, while reporting directly to them, also had dotted-line reporting relationships with their respective corporate departments, which assisted  Enterprise leader with their evaluation and development. So he had plenty of resources to help him understand what “excellence” meant for each function.