Be a Rising Star: 6 Types of Savvy For High Potential Leaders
Share
Over the years as our team has coached C-suite leaders, we've noticed that the succession planning process really hasn't changed. Senior leaders secretly (or not so secretly) tolerate or outright ignore attempts to make the process fair and scientific. It's just human nature. Confident leaders are paid to use their judgment. And they pride themselves on judging leadership talent.

My friends in HR have a hard time accepting this, but the harder Talent M Management works to perfect assessments and competency models, the more senior leaders resist. As the formulas grow more complex, CEOs and their directs rely on informal observation. In evaluating potential, they trust personal interactions they have with high potential leaders, or recommendations of trusted senior leaders, above all metrics.

So, rising stars in any organization must take career advancement into their own hands. They must develop the kind of savvy that gets noticed by the C-Suite. As a high potential leader, you may get by without a few, but you really need most of these six types of savvy to get noticed.

1. CEO Savvy

When confronted with a problem or situation, how would your CEO see it? That's how you must think. Let's face it, anyone can go in and argue for a pet project, or beg for more head count. You get noticed when you know what to ask for when, and this happens when you understand how your project fits into the overall company strategy. Be highly attuned and flexible as priorities change with market and competitive forces.

2. Situational Savvy:

This is the ability to get people to do things they don't want to do when it needs to be done. Rising stars need to influence not only with their own teams, but also across multiple business functions. Learn to analyze each audience and target your message to what is in their best interest. Overcoming silo thinking fifedoms is one of the biggest challenges facing companies today. You earn a company-wide reputation as a high potential when you get people to get things done.

3. Communication Savvy:

You simply have to be great on your feet to get to the top. Most leaders don't spend time on this and it catches up to them in a big way. Get in front of an audience and tell a story. Data dumping is death with a decision-making audience. It makes you look like a doer, not a decider. Talk about big ideas, and be prepared to cut a 30 minute presentation to three minutes.


4. Networking Savvy:

Get off your seat, get outside your comfort zone and get to know people across functions and businesses. There are no excuses - including schedule, geography, or your current role. Everybody is in the same boat. Everybody is busy, everybody has limited access. Volunteer, take extra assignments, go to meetings on your boss's behalf, meet people, and look for opportunities to collaborate outside your immediate sphere of influence.

5. Political Savvy:

This is not what you think it is. Aligning yourself with those who appear to be in favor today is a mistake. Your boss, mentor or buddy will have his or her own challenges. And they aren't responsible for your career, you are. If your wagon is hitched to one star, don't be surprised when that star burns out and you're left stranded. You need a chorus of influential leaders singing your praises.

6. Self Savvy:

In Discover Your CEO Brand, which I wrote for leaders at every level, I talk about how important it is to getting ahead to have a brand. Know who you are and what you stand for. Communicate these values, formally and informally to shape the organization you lead. There may be no faster way to get ahead than to be a leader who stands for something.