No organisation in Malaysia can tackle soft skills development without addressing this problem:
“What skills do we train this person now, based on where they are at?”
This is where a talent development framework can be extremely useful, but as many can seem too academic for practical application, there is a tendency to favour…less complex processes.
This is a shame – if we get past the lingo, these frameworks offer practical and actionable insights into aligning soft skills training with talent needs and organisation goals.
So we’d like to help!
For D Jungle People specifically, Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline has been instrumental in helping us tailor soft skills programmes for businesses of all sizes.
To those interested in sustainable talent development, we promise to keep things simple as we cover:
- what Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline is
- the six main leadership passages
- soft skills needed to manage these transitions, and
- how talent assessments can determine soft skills gaps
Of course, you’re welcome to skip the reading and reach out to us for a tailored programme.
Otherwise, let’s begin.
Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline
Very briefly, Ram Charan is a globally recognised business consultant, advisor, speaker, and someone we admire for his ability to cut through noise and find what truly drives growth.
The framework we touch on below is from The Leadership Pipeline, one of several books he has authored and one we encourage anyone in talent development to read.
But if not, our guide is probably the next best thing 🙂
Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline breaks leadership development into a series of six key transitions (or passages) across seven leadership stages.
What makes someone effective at one level can be the main limitation at the next.
Each transition is therefore inevitably painful – someone must stop doing what they’re good at and step into the unfamiliar…and again, and again!
The good news is while these shifts are unfamiliar to the individual, with Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline they become highly predictable to organisations who can now:
- define each transition
- predict common challenges, and
- design soft skills training programmes to prepare leaders accordingly
In an ideal situation, there is a continuous flow of development from the bottom to the top.
That’s how you get a steady internal leadership pipeline – no more Indeed ads every quarter!
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at these passages and the soft skills required through the journey of a fictional character called Abu.
He’s been the top salesperson in his company for the past year and is destined for greatness.
Passage 1: Managing self → managing others
Thanks to his consistent performance, Abu is offered the position of junior sales manager.
Compared to his previous role, he must now deliver results through a small team of salespeople rather than through his own individual performance.
His main challenge is shifting from being the best performer to someone who enables others to perform, especially when his instinct is still to step in and do the work himself.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- delegation and empowerment
- coaching fundamentals
- communication and expectation setting
- emotional intelligence and self-awareness
Passage 2: Managing others → leading managers
Abu is offered the position of sales team leader overseeing multiple sales managers.
Compared to his previous role managing a single team, he must now achieve results indirectly through managers who each lead their own teams.
His main challenge is to let go of direct operational involvement and focusing instead on developing capable managers who can run their teams effectively without his intervention.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- leadership coaching and mentoring
- talent development
- performance management conversations
- influence and alignment
Passage 3: Leading managers → functional manager
Abu is offered the position of Head of Sales, responsible for the entire sales function.
Compared to his previous role leading managers, he must now work with leaders of multiple functions such as Finance, Operations, HR, and Marketing to ensure sales contributes effectively to overall business performance.
His main challenge is shifting from a sales-first mindset to a business-first mindset, avoiding the tendency to view all problems through a single functional lens.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- strategic thinking
- cross-functional collaboration
- stakeholder management
- business communication
Passage 4: Functional manager → business manager
Abu is offered the position of business unit leader.
Compared to his previous role which focused on sales, he must now take responsibility for the overall performance of the entire business, including revenue, profitability, customers, growth…and sales!
His main challenge is moving from functional optimisation to business optimisation, where decisions require balancing financial, operational, and market realities.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- commercial decision-making
- financial literacy for leaders
- negotiation and influence
- adaptive leadership
Passage 5: Business manager → group manager
Abu is offered the position of group manager overseeing multiple business units.
Compared to his previous role leading a single business, he must now optimise performance across an entire portfolio of businesses rather than focus on one unit alone.
His main challenge is to stay objective while balancing competing demands from different business leaders, each arguing for more resources and attention.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- executive coaching
- systems thinking
- strategic influence
- complex decision-making
Passage 6: Group manager → enterprise leader
Years after he joined as a salesperson, Abu is offered the position of CEO.
If he accepts, he must take responsibility for the long-term direction, sustainability, and overall leadership capability of the entire organisation.
His challenge is one few will ever relate to – balancing short-term business performance with long-term organisational health, all while managing expectations of multiple stakeholder groups with competing interests.
Soft skills needed at this stage:
- vision setting and strategic communication
- change leadership
- succession and pipeline thinking
- culture leadership
- stakeholder management and influence
Sustaining the leadership pipeline
Somewhere in the organisation, another talented salesperson has just joined the team.
Now at the top, Abu’s duty is ensuring this individual – and others like them – receive the right opportunities and training to progress through the same leadership passages he once did.
In fact, it is because Abu has risen through the company that he is uniquely qualified for this responsibility – this is why we are proponents of Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline.
Soft skills to prioritise for Abu at this stage include:
- talent stewardship
- succession planning
- organisational coaching culture
- strategic workforce development
- long-term leadership thinking
The next key component is a holistic leadership assessment programme.
Leadership assessments to identify soft skill gaps
Ram Charan’s Pipeline tells us what soft skills are needed for Abu to manage leadership passages, but not which of these skills Abu currently has or lacks.
This is where leadership assessments can bridge the gap and identify Abu’s:
- strengths
- weaknesses, and
- risk areas if promoted too early
Armed with this knowledge, the organisation can provide training that tackles genuine issues affecting Abu’s readiness for promotion.
As for how to implement it, our leadership assessment guide covers it in full, but here’s an abridged explanation of the key steps in the process.
- Define what ‘good’ looks like at each leadership stage
Map each stage of Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline and define the required competencies, behaviours, EQ, and performance expectations for success. - Build the assessment framework
Decide what you are measuring using a combination of competency, behavioural, psychometric, strengths, leadership style, potential, EQ, and organisational impact frameworks. - Select the assessment tools
Choose how you will measure capability using tools such as psychometric tests, 360 feedback, simulations, strengths-based tools, competency assessments, and talent intelligence platforms. - Use assessment centres for high-stakes decisions
For critical roles, combine multiple tools into structured assessment centres involving simulations, interviews, and behavioural exercises for selection, promotion, or succession decisions. - Map results to the leadership pipeline
Interpret assessment data against the pipeline stage to identify readiness, capability gaps, and risks of moving Abu to the next level too early. - Identify development interventions
Translate gaps into action through targeted training, coaching, mentoring, stretch assignments, or cross-functional exposure. - Continuously refine the system
Review outcomes over time to improve accuracy, fairness, and alignment between assessments, promotions, and actual leadership performance.
If this looks like a lot of work, it is. But after 25 years in the business, we believe this is what it takes to build the most effective and sustainable approach to soft skills development.
We do it for the Abus of the Malaysian workplace.
That’s it from us, and we wish you all the best with your employee soft skill training 🙂
Let D Jungle People deliver your employee soft skills training
D Jungle People is a small team of experts dedicated to tailoring every training session to your needs. Get in touch to explore leadership development sessions that deliver impact – and yes, our programmes are HRDC Claimable!
