Adapt Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel's Leadership Pipeline model to the organization by defining each passage or transition point — typically from managing self to managing others, managing others to managing managers, managing managers to functional leader, functional leader to business leader, and business leader to enterprise leader. Customize the passages to reflect the organization's actual hierarchy and career architecture.

For each leadership transition, document the three critical shifts: new skills the leader must acquire, new time allocation priorities (what they should spend time on versus delegate), and new work values (what they must learn to value rather than doing themselves). These three dimensions are the core of the Charan-Drotter-Noel model.

Document the typical failure modes at each transition — e.g. new managers who continue doing individual contributor work instead of managing, or functional leaders who cannot think beyond their discipline. Understanding passage-specific derailment risks enables targeted development and early intervention.

Evaluate each leader's proficiency in the skills, time application, and work values appropriate to their current passage. Identify leaders who are operating below passage requirements (struggling in their current role) and those still operating at the standards of a previous passage (failing to let go of old habits).

Translate the skills, time applications, and work values at each passage into a competency profile that can be used for assessment, development planning, and promotion decisions. These profiles make the abstract concept of leadership passages concrete and actionable.

Analyse the leadership population at each passage to identify where the pipeline is healthy (adequate bench strength) and where it is blocked (too few candidates) or leaking (high turnover at specific passages). Pipeline blockages at any level starve subsequent levels of talent supply.

Flag leaders who have been promoted through multiple passages without adequate development at each stage. Passage-skipping is common in fast-growing organizations and creates leaders who lack foundational skills, often resulting in derailment at senior levels when the gaps become untenable.

Analyse the demographic composition of the leadership pipeline at every passage to identify where diverse talent is being lost. Attrition of underrepresented groups often concentrates at specific transitions — typically the move from individual contributor to first-line manager and from functional leader to business leader.

Deploy multi-rater feedback surveys where questions are calibrated to the skills, time applications, and work values expected at each leader's current passage. Passage-aligned feedback provides more actionable insights than generic leadership feedback.

Present a pipeline dashboard showing the number of leaders at each passage, bench strength ratios, diversity metrics, development participation rates, and transition success rates. Executive visibility creates accountability and ensures pipeline health is treated as a strategic priority.

Create distinct development programs aligned to each passage — e.g. a 'New Manager Program' for the Passage 1 transition, a 'Leading Leaders Program' for Passage 2, and a 'Business Leadership Program' for Passage 4. Each program should address the specific skills, time applications, and work values required at that passage.

Offer newly transitioned leaders 6-12 months of coaching focused on navigating the specific challenges of their new passage. Coaching during transitions is significantly more impactful than coaching during stable periods because leaders are most receptive to change when facing new challenges.

Design simulations, action learning projects, and stretch assignments that replicate the challenges of each passage. For example, a Passage 2 program might include managing a cross-functional task force, while a Passage 4 program might involve leading a business unit turnaround simulation.

Organise leaders who are navigating the same passage into peer learning groups that meet regularly to share challenges, exchange strategies, and provide mutual support. Peer cohorts normalise the difficulty of passage transitions and reduce the isolation that often accompanies leadership advancement.

Include passage readiness and development progress as explicit elements of the performance review for all leaders. This integration ensures that leadership development is not treated as a separate activity but as a core expectation of every leader's role.

Ensure that promotion decisions are based on demonstrated readiness for the next passage — not merely on strong performance at the current level. The skills that made someone an excellent individual contributor do not automatically translate to effective management, and this must be reflected in the promotion process.

Require a formal readiness assessment aligned to the next passage's competency profile before any leadership promotion is approved. This may include a development review, manager assessment, 360-degree feedback, and in some cases psychometric testing. Assessment before promotion reduces the risk of passage-skipping.

Equip all managers involved in leadership selection with the passage-specific competency profiles and interview guides. Structured assessment against passage requirements improves the quality of leadership appointments and reduces reliance on intuition or personal chemistry.

Develop a standard 90-day transition plan for leaders entering a new passage, including clarity on new expectations, a stakeholder introduction schedule, coaching or buddy assignment, and key milestones. Research consistently shows that structured transitions accelerate time-to-effectiveness and reduce early derailment.

Assign a senior executive (typically the CHRO or CEO) as the accountable owner of the leadership pipeline, responsible for ensuring adequate investment in development, monitoring pipeline health, and reporting to the board. Without executive ownership, pipeline development degrades into a series of disconnected training programs.

Connect the leadership pipeline assessment directly to the succession planning process — pipeline data reveals where the organization has depth (multiple ready candidates for the next passage) and where it has critical gaps requiring immediate development or external hiring.

Reassess the passage definitions, competency profiles, and development programs annually to ensure they reflect the current organizational structure, strategy, and leadership requirements. Organizational changes such as restructuring, mergers, or new operating models may require passage redefinition.

Track the relationship between pipeline development investment and outcomes including promotion readiness rates, transition success rates (percentage of promoted leaders who succeed at the next passage), leadership bench strength, and engagement scores of leaders in development programs.

Communicate consistently that developing the next generation of leaders is a core responsibility of every current leader — not a delegated HR activity. Recognise and reward leaders who actively develop their teams, and hold accountable those who hoard talent or neglect development.