The title of the article alone should have told me the outlook was grim: “Report: Businesses Fail to Develop Next Leaders” by Anita Bruzzese.

The article talks about the 2008-2009 Development Dimensions International (DDI) Global Leadership Forecast, which shows some disturbing trends. "Leadership development is absolutely not keeping up with the demand," says Ann Howard, DDI's chief scientist and co-author of the study.

According to the report, “Some 65 percent of human resource professionals say executives don't make time for their own development, while only 33 percent of executives agreed.”

Clearly, there is some disconnect between what leaders are doing or think they are doing, and what HR thinks they are doing. This is a bit disturbing to me for several reasons, but the most important one is: How does this affect the development of the next generation of leaders?

In the article, one HR manager sums it up nicely: "Programs are supported in theory at the highest level, but not much is done to drive participation or hold leaders accountable for the skills/behaviors that are introduced and practiced in development programs."

How can we change this behavior? As the article states, executives may not fully understand “the pressing need to develop leaders farther down the management chain." Perhaps if they are reminded of how they developed their skills and acumen, they will recall how others helped them with their development and played an active role in their growth.

Leaders often cite mentoring as one of the reasons why they advanced as far as they did. They had someone take an interest in them and guide them in their development and career. These same leaders need to embrace that practice from the other side now. They need to participate as mentors and help guide the next generation of leaders to greatness.

Strategize magazine published an intriguing article by Randy Emelo, President and CEO of Triple Creek Associates, that looks at new methods for incorporating mentoring into succession planning and challenges readers to broaden their thinking when it come to these practices. I think we all could do a little more of this and encourage our leaders to do the same. The article can be viewed for free at http://www.3creek.com/resources/research.htm.

With businesses already struggling and the economy in crisis, now is not the time to turn our backs on future leaders. Now is the time to take them under our wings and show them how to survive in bleak times and position the company to prosper when the economy rebounds. Having future leaders with that sort of experience will place any organization in an enviable position.