In a brilliant article in the Harvard Business Review “turning potential into success“, the three authors succinctly detail why so many large companies fail to nurture a culture of leadership development.

The paper details eight levels of competence that an organisation may look for in a potential leader, the importance of each variable depending on the type of business in question. Crucially, each variable is then measured against four additional factors: curiosity, determination, engagement and insight.

With this information, the paper discusses how to turn potential leaders into the true drivers of their companies. As they note from one survey, only 13% of executives have confidence in their own rising leaders.

I suppose the reasons for this are many. They can include:

• lack of training
• lack of ability in the top levels to perceive the talent just underneath them
• a desire to maintain power – to keep control of the existing hierarchy

A fourth factor is what I call ‘the benevolent dictator’ syndrome. That is when a ruler – a.k.a. a top executive – is dominant. He or she believes that only they can do things properly, and that includes most tasks. Assignments have to be carried out their way, as it is for the best, at least according to their logic. They cannot let go. They have to be involved in all aspects.

This is a process I see so often during my mentoring and coaching in Jerusalem, Israel. Yes, sometimes the same top CEOs do possess genuine and multiple skills for running a corporate. However, their overall outlook stifles, if not crushes, innovation. An employee will cease to question, as their motivation has been destroyed.

And the ironic result? Quite often more work and confusion is created. The dictator fails to appreciate all the angles of the project, and there is nobody to update them.

What so many of us fail to appreciate is that we often become that proverbial dictator back in our own homes. For me though there is a subtle difference. Up to 6.00pm, clock out time, the pain can be measured in the lack of growth in the corporate’s bottom line. In your own house, the fall out can be heartbreaking.