You were great in your subject matter…maybe an awesome engineer, a great teller, a fantastic professor, a gifted architect, an outstanding doctor. Then, you got promoted. You weren’t prepared for a leadership role but you certainly didn’t want to say no to the opportunity.
Or, you’re in a position to add new leaders to your team. You look around and see a few talented people. You know that they don’t have leadership skills but you need to fill the slot and want to fill it internally. So, you promote them and cross your fingers. You think they can learn to lead while they’re doing it.
In both cases we’re faced with the Promoted Not Prepared Syndrome. In both cases we have a person in a role that they may or may not be suited for. In both cases we’re facing a leadership skill deficit that can be detrimental to the team and the larger organization.
