In our business, circumstances, clients, and coworkers can often change too quickly to map out a nice, orderly career plan for yourself or your staff. But you can prepare them and yourself to be ready to step in when the opportunity for advancement presents itself.
Here are 9 ways to make sure you’re/they’re ready:
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1. Sit down with staff members and ask them what their ideal job would be in three years. Write it down and try to help them make it happen, even if it means they’ll leave your company.
2. Tell your staff WHAT to fix, not HOW to fix it. If you constantly try to solve the problem for them, they’ll never learn and you’ll never free yourself up for bigger picture tasks that a  leader should be focused on.
3. NEVER compete with your staff. No matter how fair you think you are, if you compete with your staff, they’ll believe the deck is stacked. You’ll lose their respect and your staff will stop trying to do their best.
4. Look for ways to let your staff participate in client presentations. Over time, this will build their stature with the client, groom them for a leadership role, and position you as a developer of leaders.
5. Throw challenging projects on the table and see who picks them up. People say they’ll do whatever it takes to do great work, but few will actually follow through if it requires extra effort. This is a good way to identify your up-and-coming leaders.
6. Give your rising stars a small client to nurture. Hold them accountable for improving the client. This is a great way to help people find out if they’re really cut out for a management role.
7. Personally take on a crappy client and turn him or her into a good one.  Few things will earn you greater respect than getting your hands dirty on a client no one wants to handle. You’ll lead by example and also earn greater empathy from your staff.
8. Give praise publicly and loudly for the successes of the people who work for you. This gives them the psychic reward they need to try even harder, elevates their stature in the firm and positions you as a confident leader who is secure enough not to hog all the glory.
9. If you can’t coach someone out of a poor attitude or poor behavior, get rid of him or her quickly. No one likes to fire people, but whiners and slackers drag everyone down. Your staff will have to make up for a poor performer, and your success as a leader will suffer.
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