Take a look at your newly promoted leaders (or your old leaders for that matter).  How many of them have big BUTs?  Now wait, before you close this in disgust or forward it to your HR department, read it carefully, I said “BUTs”, not “BUTTs”.

We all see leaders or leadership candidates with big BUTs  

“She is really good at getting things done BUT she leaves a pile of bodies in her wake”

“He is really good at coaching and developing his people BUT he has some trouble driving results”

“He’s great at managing his budget BUT he doesn’t think like strategically”

The temptation is to promote these people based on their current strengths and fill in their gaps over time.  The reality is that foundational problems rarely get fixed.  Look at your current leaders who are struggling to succeed.  Most likely, all of them had a strong track record in some aspects of leading.  However, they probably didn’t have a complete set of leadership skills before being put into their position.

All leaders have weaknesses that should be addressed.  I’m not suggesting that you wait until someone is perfect before moving him or her into a leadership position.  If you do, you’ll quickly find that you are out of leaders.  However, there is a foundational set of attitudes, skills, and behaviors that must be present before moving someone into a leadership position. 

We need to be more selective in identifying people for leadership positions.  People new to a leadership role won’t be perfect.  However, being perfect and meeting the baseline requirements of leadership are not the same.  If a person can’t lead people, drive results, and run the business, he or she is not ready to move into a leadership position.  Hoping and wishing that you will be able to correct a fundamental shortcoming is misguided.  It’s probably not going to happen. If it does happen, it’s going to happen at great expense for your people or business.

People should not be promoted to formal leadership roles until they’ve demonstrated, informally, their ability to lead.  Use that informal time, before you’ve put someone in charge of people and results, to address any concerns you have.  It will be better for the individual, your people, and your business. 

You already have enough leaders who struggle to lead effectively.  You don’t need to add more.