David Reynolds

I came across a timely article, Making Mobility Matter, in this month’s Harvard Business Review. The authors, Haig Nalbantian and Rick Guzzo, offer a new approach to producing effective leaders at a time when businesses need them most. They point out that while accelerating mobility for up-and-comers as a way to build breadth of experience and perspective makes sense for some companies, it can be highly deleterious for others. In many cases, companies would do well to slow down mobility and provide incentives for experienced, effective employees to stay longer in their current positions. Few deny that the current economic crisis is tied in part to inadequate leadership, but too many ailing businesses rely on customary fixes—such as reshuffling executives or slash-and-burn firing—that actually worsen the situation.