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Leadership pipeline is a critical business process that provides organisations with a sustainable supply of quality leaders, at all levels, to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

The question is - are managers, who are in leadership positions, also responsible for contributing to the creation of leadership pipeline in organisations? The answer is both ‘no' and ‘yes'. ‘No', because traditionally the organisational development, talent management, learning and development function, etc are the ones who are formally charged with this activity. The answer is also a big ‘yes', because of three specific reasons. First, if such leaders take a keen interest in developing leadership attributes in their direct reports, they get much more than just support from them.

Second, leaders free up their own time to upscale themselves on latest trends and developments, thereby adding value to more strategic issues. Third, and the most important reason is that they have an ever-prepared team to take over leadership roles, with the least response time, whenever there is an organisational need. The above rationale is a no-brainer, isn't it?

Unfortunately, in a global research conducted titled,  "Leaders in Transition: Stepping Up, Not Off", it was reported that only 27.8 per cent of leaders indicate that their organisations were effectively preparing leaders for transition; only 36 per cent of leaders have reported that their organisation is actively identifying high flyers; only 32 per cent admit that their organisation is setting clear performance expectations; another 32 per cent claim that their organisation supports new leaders to help them cope transition to new roles; and worse of all, only 17 per cent say that their organisations develop leaders before their next promotion. Nothing can be more ironical than this. Organisations commit enormous resources in terms of time and money to bring in the latest technology, systems and processes. However, when it comes to developing leaders who are charged with leading those human beings who ultimately stand behind these technologies, systems and processes and run them efficiently and effectively, the above figures have a sad tale to tell.

Is it then enough for leaders to just keep cribbing in their responses to research studies about the apathy of their organisation towards developing pipeline and do little about the situation? Should leaders discuss and support them in their continuous development and growth so that direct reports flower out to be good leaders themselves? This is a million-dollar question in itself. Second, should leaders let go of direct reports and allow them to take risks and perform as a part of the experiential learning paradigm? These questions and many more need to be answered by leaders for themselves if they desire to play their part in developing the leadership pipeline in their organisation.

The author, Dr. Devashis Rath is senior consultant at DDI, India