The crisis of leadership talent shortage is a hot topic!  

Nearly 60% of companies are facing leadership talent shortages that are impeding their performance. Another 31% expect a lack of leadership talent to impede their performance in the next several years.

(Sue Ashford and Scott DeRue, University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business)

What's even more troubling for most companies is that nearly 40% of their home-grown “high potential” leaders end in failure within the first 18 months, taking with them an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The chances that a new executive will quit or be fired within the first three years jumps to greater than 50 percent. The cost of replacing a newly recruited executive could be anywhere from three to five times that executive's salary.

(Dr Ira S Wolfe: The Perfect Labor Storm)

Investing in the development of the right leaders is one of the most critical business needs to build a sustainable organisation that can survive tough periods of fast growth or economic downturns in the modern business environment . Based on the increasing complexity and pace of change in today's talent markets the shortage of qualified leaders is only going to grow as leadership demands increase.

"Your old road is rapidly aging ," Bob Dylan proclaimed to the powers that be in 1964. "Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand ."