Jeff Rosenthal is Co-CEO of ProjectNext Leadership, a consulting firm focused on developing leaders and successors for high impact roles.
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“The role of director is crucial for the success of our company. If this band of leadership is broken, then there's no communication between senior leadership and the executors of the strategy. So, the director level is where we are now prioritizing.” —Head of Talent Development, Medical Device Corporation
For the past year, our firm has noticed a distinct new trend. Directors and the companies they work for have been clamoring for more development specifically geared to the director role. At first glance, the reasons driving this were unclear. Could it be the lack of role clarity, a lack of previous director development, more recently promoted directors or some other key change?
Our firm wanted to better understand the reasons behind this trend. As a result, we launched a research study to specifically analyze the role of the director—to better understand the parade of companies we've seen prioritizing director development.
Directors typically are mid- to senior-level leaders who manage other managers. They sit between executive leadership (typically VP and above) and frontline managers, the key link between strategy and execution. Development for directors has to carefully thread a needle, recognizing their unique and critical role. They are experienced managers who have a distinct set of responsibilities that focus on solving business challenges with a wider range of stakeholders, aligning interests across the organization and ensuring their teams have the clarity and resources to accomplish the goals.
The underscoring of directors as key leaders in the organization is one of the most notable leadership development shifts this past year and is consistent across industries. It begs the question—Why the shift and what are companies trying to accomplish?
What’s going on?
Traditionally, companies have focused their development efforts more heavily on frontline managers and those newer to management. Some have also added offerings for more senior executive leaders via coaching or specialized development. But often, companies have not developed directors, either those new to the job or those more experienced in the role.
We’ve heard a collective “oops” in the corporate world this past year—with many companies realizing they’ve put past emphasis above and below directors and now seeing the importance of this group and the need to develop them. In essence, there has been a realization that directors were “the forgotten middle”—and that can’t happen any longer.
One tech client we work with has recently been so bombarded by directors requesting coaching that it has quickly become a development priority after doing nothing for this group in the recent past. Fueling the magnitude of this demand is the fact that many directors were promoted more quickly into their roles in the past two to three years during boom times, resulting in many companies having the majority of their directors still being relatively new to their roles. While director demand for role-specific development has been quietly growing for years, this rapid promotion of new directors has brought the need to the very forefront for HR organizations.
What’s the goal? with today’s business challenges, the director role has evolved and also grown in importance. There are critical skill sets that are often new to leaders promoted to the director level. They include:
1. Serving as the critical link. Directors are usually the ones who translate strategy into day-to-day priorities—helping others understand what a strategic priority means for them in their work. Given the added agility and speed required to execute effectively in today’s environment, we see a heightened need for directors to be effective in this “translation” work—consistently and frequently creating a line of sight for their teams. While an architect creates the design for a building, it’s the construction manager who works with contractor teams to make sure the building gets realized according to the vision. Similarly, the director is like the construction manager—guiding the direction and cadence of the team—the make-or-break link between direction and results.
2. Building strong cross-business wiring. In another research study conducted by ProjectNext Leadership, we found that a key role now played by directors is “leading across” the enterprise. This includes solving problems, driving innovation and making key decisions that require multiple functions or business units. Our research showed that most directors now spend up to half their time leading across—as much as managing their own teams. One director described his promotion into the director role as being “shot into a jet stream of cross-business communications that I’d never seen before.” Knowing how much company success increasingly depends on cross-business collaboration, companies are now seeing that directors are the kingpins that make this happen.
3. Being in the right place at the right time. Directors grapple every day with the question of “where should I focus right now?” Their teams seek clarity on objectives and priorities. Their cross-business colleagues require attention in order to problem solve, educate and set expectations with key business partners. Their more senior executives expect directors to have a firm grasp on operational details while staying focused on strategy. Clearly, they are pulled in every direction, and the art of where to spend time and attention is critical to their success. Being accessible to all stakeholders in the right ways is a minute-by-minute decision.
Recognizing how important directors are to the successful execution of strategy, the urgency to prepare directors for their roles has dramatically increased. We all know that companies have to become far more agile at driving results in times of contraction and growth, in more complex and unpredictable conditions. Without a strong band of directors, organizations could find themselves feckless and frustrated.
As stakes rise, companies understand that they need to prioritize directors to ensure both near-term company success and longevity. Many companies that are focusing on director development are experiencing clear results, better collaboration and increased confidence. It is time to reexamine how we are supporting our directors and act quickly to avoid leaving their success to chance.
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