What does it take for ambitious accountants to rise up the ranks and secure themselves a top position in today's business world? Hard graft, dedication or talent? Well, our research at ACCA indicates that you'd do as well to cross your fingers and hope for the best: nearly 70% of accountants believe that luck has a large part to play in achieving a leadership position.

The research - the latest installment of ACCA's Insights Series Paths to the top, 'Best practice leadership for finance professionals' - indicates clearly that organisations around the world are facing significant challenges in developing and delivering effective leadership programmes, and most importantly, in providing the leaders for tomorrow. Truth be told, it finds that many organisations are failing to plan and deliver leadership development effectively, if at all.

The bottom line is that organisations of all sizes need to be better at talent management, leadership development and succession if they are to attract, develop and retain the good people required to succeed in a complex and competitive business environment.

For an empirically trained profession usually sceptical of a concept like 'luck' in the world of business, a surprisingly high proportion of accountants believe their promotion is simply a case of being in the right place at the right time.

The findings suggest that being identified for and enrolled into leadership development programmes is less systematic than previously thought and, rather alarmingly, it may mean that those with the greatest potential and most deserving aren't engaged in the process.

Timing is critical. The fact is that many accountants in top positions today only receive leadership training once they've achieved the position. Not only does this defeat the purpose of preparing an individual for the role, it is also unlikely to be taken up, primarily because of diary pressures. The ideal is for employers to identify talent shortly after staff qualify and then begin to provide them with opportunities for the right experience and development five years after qualification.

Lucky break

Fortunately the research shows that it's not all bad news. Organisations tend to offer a healthy range of development activities, but there are some highly effective activities that are not being utilised as they should, for instance, secondments (international or otherwise) and peer networking. These schemes don't cost much but are rated as highly effective. In contrast, use of internal leadership courses, while expensive was seen as one of the least effective development methods.

According to the research, senior executive coaching/mentoring came out as the most effective, and one of the most used development methods. As one FD interviewee put it: 'A great manager trumps all… someone you really respect and you're going to learn a tonne from… beats location, industry and what kind of job you're doing day to day.'

For leadership roles, breadth of experience is vital. Finance roles across financial analysis, management accountancy or risk management are key development platforms and having experience of two or more of these areas offers individuals a distinct career advantage. While these areas became less important later on, they were seen as very important at the start of the career as they provide technical proficiency, analytical skills and business understanding. Other important areas are working internationally and gaining experience in two or more organisations.

The research illustrates that setting up a leadership programme and securing resources for it is an issue in many organisations. One big problem is one of credibility and trust between the finance function and HR, and the fact that HR has a poor reputation in many organisations in being able to lead and deliver. The research also found that an unwillingness to invest in programmes, usually due to a lack of top-level sponsorship, was another key factor holding back the development of leadership programmes.

The inside track

Part of the problem is the disproportionate value that many companies place on sourcing leadership talent from outside the business. Only a quarter of organisations have a succession plan in place. So, not only are organisations not making the right level of investments in people development, they are also not giving insiders sufficient opportunity by giving equal preference to outsiders. Interestingly, research by Booz Allen Hamilton found that outside recruits tend to have a higher failure rate when compared to internally sourced leaders.

The rising and widening expectations of key stakeholders - shareholders, market analysts, clients and employees - are driving the rapidly evolving role of the finance leader. As these stakeholder expectations continue to grow, accountants need to become 'über-leaders' - people who can challenge the status quo, be optimistic and positive and demonstrate a clear vision. Developing these skills is not something that should be left to chance.

Urgent challenges for the finance leader are sustainability management and building an ethical culture, while the top three challenges over the next five years will be to deliver financial value, uphold regulatory requirements and shape business strategy. And to deal with these challenges, respondents identified four vital attributes and skills being necessary to thrive - strategic business insight (97%); regulatory knowledge (91%); change management (85%) and technical expertise (75%).

It is this understanding of stakeholders' expectations and key challenges that must drive leadership development. To this extent organisations should test how relevant and appropriate their current programmes are. If programmes have not been tailored for the finance community, this will blunt their effectiveness. In short, there is much for organisations to do.

The finance leader's toolkit

Today's finance leader shares more attributes with their CEO than the members of the finance team they manage. They are expected to produce change, align and motivate people and create a culture of leadership.

However, unlike the CEO, it doesn't end there. Finance leaders are expected to have a higher involvement in accountability and control in ensuring that regulatory requirements are upheld and in delivering financial value.

The finance leader and CEO roles are overlapping and complementing one another meaning that finance leaders must be a sort of 'CEO plus'.

They have to exhibit similar values as the CEO while ensuring the internal and external credibility and sustainability of the business.

Tony Osude is head of learning and development at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants