The way in which many companies cultivate leaders takes too much time and energy and often fails to unearth late bloomers or other talented individuals who may be overlooked for a variety of reasons, including racial bias, says McKinsey. “Harvesting” leaders through the time-honored process of “planting the seeds”–new hires–and fertilizing their talents with increasingly demanding tasks, “assumes that the best, often with some help, will organically rise to prominence.” McKinsey calls for a more red-blooded approach that combines “hunting” for talent through search technology, “fishing” with incentives and “trawling” social networks. “By acknowledging that overlooked leaders can be identified through more proactive efforts, executives should be able to reshape their leadership culture, increase the available talent, save on recruiting costs, and raise retention rates.
