5 Strategic Shifts: How True Leaders Develop Leaders
Written By Arvin
In many modern organisations, leadership is still mistakenly viewed as a finite resource, a set of seats at a boardroom table or a specific tier on an organisational chart. However, at The Outlier Group, we believe that the most successful organisations are those that view leadership as a scalable capability. The ultimate hallmark of a great leader isn’t how many followers they gather, but how many leaders they create.
When leaders develop leaders, they transition from being a bottleneck of authority to a catalyst for capability uplift. This shift is essential for any organisation aiming to navigate the complexities of digital transformation or large-scale change. If a strategy relies solely on the brilliance of one or two individuals at the top, it is inherently fragile.
This guide explores the practical, human-centred strategies required to build a leadership pipeline that sustains itself.
1. Moving from Authority to Context and Connection
The traditional “command and control” model is designed for compliance, not leadership development. In that model, information is hoarded at the top and directives are pushed down. This stifles the growth of emerging leaders because they are never given the chance to exercise judgment.
To ensure that leaders develop leaders, senior practitioners must master the art of leading within a specific context. Instead of telling a team member what to do, a developer of leaders explains why the objective matters and how it fits into the broader organisational puzzle.
The Shift: Stop being the “Chief Answer Officer.”
The Action: When a team member brings you a problem, resist the urge to solve it. Instead, provide the strategic context they need to solve it themselves.
By providing context, you are enabling them to think strategically. This is the first step in moving the strategy from documents to behaviour. It builds the “intellectual muscle” required for future leadership roles.
2. Creating "Safe-to-Fail" Environments for Growth
Leadership is a craft that is learned through experience, not just theory. However, many organisations are so risk-averse that they never allow emerging leaders to take the helm of a meaningful project. If the cost of a mistake is professional exile, no one will ever take the initiative required to lead.
True leaders understand that capability is built, not assumed. They consciously create safe-to-fail environments where emerging talent can experiment with leadership.
In these environments:
Small Bets: Emerging leaders are given ownership of smaller, high-impact projects.
Debrief over Blame: When things go wrong, the focus is on a “human-centred” reflection. What did we learn? How does this evolve our practice?
Supportive Autonomy: The senior leader is available for guidance but does not interfere with the decision-making process.
3. Integrating the P4E Model into Mentoring
At The Outlier Group, we use the P4E Change Model (Position, Engage, Enable, Embed, Evolve) to drive organisational transformation. This same framework can also be applied to how leaders develop their own leaders.
Position: Help the emerging leader understand their current “leadership position.” What are their strengths? Where is the gap between their current skill set and the requirements of their next role?
Engage: Don’t just assign a mentor. Engage in a collaborative partnership. Leadership development should feel like an invitation, not a directive.
Enable: Provide the tools and training. This might mean sponsorship for a specific course or, more importantly, giving them the “human-centred” tools to manage team dynamics and employee engagement.
Embed: Leadership habits are formed through repetition. Help them embed these behaviours by giving them consistent opportunities to lead meetings, facilitate workshops, or head up a project workstream.
Evolve: Great leaders never stop learning. Encourage a mindset of continuous evolution where feedback is sought and acted upon regularly.
4. Prioritising Human Behaviour over Frameworks
A common pitfall in leadership development is an over-reliance on rigid frameworks and “best-in-class” methodologies. While these have their place, leadership is fundamentally a human experience.
When leaders develop leaders, they must teach the “soft” skills that are actually the “hardest” to master: empathy, active listening, and the ability to navigate the “messy middle” of organisational change.
Aspiring leaders need to understand that human experience drives organisational success. If they can lead a team through the stress of a project deadline while maintaining high morale and clarity of purpose, they have achieved more than someone who simply follows a Project Management manual to the letter.
We encourage leaders to teach their protégés to be practical strategists, people who can look at a complex situation and find the human-first pathway forward.
5. Championing Collaboration over Silos
Finally, a leader who develops other leaders must model the belief that thinking together beats working in silos.
In many corporate environments, leadership is treated as a competition. Emerging leaders are often pitted against one another for limited promotions. This creates a culture of information hoarding and internal politics, the antithesis of a high-performing culture.
To break this cycle:
Co-Leadership: Pair emerging leaders on a project to foster collaborative problem-solving.
Cross-Functional Exposure: Ensure that a burgeoning leader in Finance spends time understanding the human challenges in Operations or the Strategy Practice.
Transparent Successions: Be clear about what is required for growth. When the “rules of the game” are transparent, people focus on building capability rather than playing politics.
The Role of the Modern Business Consultant
Sometimes, the internal pressure of daily operations makes it difficult for leaders to find the time to mentor. This is where a business consultant in Brisbane or a dedicated business planning consultant can add immense value.
We don’t just come in to deliver a project, we come in to uplift your team’s capability. Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job by ensuring your internal leaders have the skills and confidence to lead the next phase of your evolution themselves. Whether it’s through our Change Practice or our project delivery support, we focus on the human side of delivery.
A Legacy of Leadership
The decision for leaders to develop leaders is a choice to build a resilient, future-proof organisation. It requires moving away from the ego of being the “sole decider” and moving toward the humility of being a coach and facilitator.
When you invest in the growth of others, you aren’t just filling a vacancy, you are ensuring that your organisation’s values clarity, capability, and collaboration live on long after your tenure.
Need to implement this?
If your organisation is ready to rethink how it identifies and nurtures talent, or if you are in the middle of a digital transformation and need to build a leadership layer that can truly drive the change, we’re here to help.
Reach out to The Outlier Group today. Let’s talk about how we can help you build a culture where everyone is empowered to lead. Join our newsletter to stay connected to modern thinking in project, change, and strategy.
sign up for our newsletter
Gain priority access to our latest podcasts, how-to guides, projects and news.
Related posts
Ready to see what Outlier Group can do for your project management needs?