Many corporations are not satisfied with their high potential leadership development programs. The problem for some organizations is that their approach is too linear and programmatic. You can’t make leaders the same way you make sausage.

1. A company should not define “high potentials” too rigidly. Managers know at a gut level who many of their high potentials are, including ones who may not fit the mold.
2. Developing high potentials should be a stand-alone program, not part of the mainstream leadership program. The C-suite needs special leaders, and prospects for the C-suite should be identified and trained differently.
3. A high potential today should be a high potential tomorrow. If a high potential was correctly identified but is not advancing, the problem is in the development process.
4. The high potential training process should not undermine the motivation and productivity of the rest of your workforce. If your high potential program for 3% of your workers is counterproductive to the motivation of your other 97%, that's not smart talent management.

Developing high potentials requires more than checklists and timelines. It is about cultivating the exceptional talent of unique individuals. Those high potentials need unique and custom-made development plans.

For more articles like this visit Best Practice Institute's Leadership and Management blog. Use skillrater, our anytime 360-degree feedback tool: www.skillrater.com and develop your high-potential leaders in an open and transparent manner backed by a researched methodology in feed-forward, anytime feedback.