Heat Experiences for Development

Organizations have long placed their leaders in stretch assignments to prepare them for larger roles, intentionally creating a “trial by fire” — or “heat experience” — to develop their top talent. Getting the temperature right and providing leaders with support to endure the heat are both critical, though, because uncontrolled heat negatively impacts engagement and retention.

Businesses that misdiagnose heat levels and misalign their support are at risk of losing top talent. In fact, if your organization isn’t having conversations about how heat is impacting your leaders, some of them may already be headed toward burnout.

But harnessed well, heat accelerates learning, creating an opportunity for big leaps in how your people respond to uncertainty and complexity. In fact, some organizations are even boldly replicating heat as development opportunities to provide a “safe space” for leaders and teams to practice their leadership and collaboration skills under pressure.

In this paper, you’ll learn best practices for providing adequate support to talent that’s experiencing heat, and you’ll discover ways to simulate heat in a safe-to-fail environment … because heat-tolerant, resilient workers are the ones best equipped to lead your organization into the future.