CCL-Europe - News

Mind the Leadership Gap

Brussels, 4 August 2009 - Today's turbulent times test the skills of leaders - the best ones know how to weather change and navigate rough economic waters. But how can you tell if your organisation has leaders with the right stuff?

A unique Leadership Gap Indicator introduced by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL^®) eliminates the guess-work by helping organisations define the leadership characteristics essential to success and measuring how their leaders stack up.

An online tool, the Leadership Gap Indicator measures specific leadership gaps and determines how to target and spend precious development budgets.

"Having the right people in the right leadership positions can literally make or break an organisation, especially during tough times," says Jean Leslie, CCL senior manager, new product development. "Unfortunately, most organisations don't have a way to apply the same rigor to their talent mix that they do to other aspects of their operations. We've designed our new assessment tool to provide the objective data needed to make those strategic decisions."

Any organisation using the new Leadership Gap Indicator will be able to identify the gap between the skills they have today and those they need to succeed over the long-haul. They also will have a clear view into the factors that are impeding executive success and derailing careers.

"Increasingly, CEOs are being held accountable by their boards and investors for their bench strength," observes Rudi Plettinx, VP and Managing Director of CCL's EMEA operation. "Redundancies, retirements and shifting market conditions add complexity. But there are three simple questions to ask and answer: who do we have, what do they need to do, and are they equipped to do it?"

"And it's not just about what you need now," Rudi Plettinx continues. "Our research shows that the four most important future leadership skills — leading people, strategic planning, inspiring commitment and managing change — are among the weakest in today's lead.

About the Center for Creative Leadership
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL^®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that unlocks individual and organizational potential through its exclusive focus on leadership development and research. Founded in 1970 as a nonprofit, educational institution, CCL helps clients worldwide cultivate creative leadership - the capacity to achieve more than imagined by thinking and acting beyond boundaries - through an array of programs, products and other services.

Ranked among the world's top providers of executive education by BusinessWeek and the Financial Times, The Center for Creative Leadership is an internationally recognised resource for maximising the leadership capabilities within organisations. Every year, over 20,000 professionals attend CCL programmes worldwide.

While our focus is learning and development, we differ from many academic institutions in that our R&D efforts are practitioner-oriented. We strive to design and produce practical tools that our clients can use to change themselves and their organisations in fundamental ways, in keeping with our mission of working for the benefit of society worldwide.

Media Contact

CCL's Europe, Mid East and Africa headquarters is in Brussels, headed by Rudi Plettinx, Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA.