On-the-job experience can be a powerfully transformative tool for professional growth—in fact, research indicates it may be the primary vehicle for learning critical leadership skills. Many companies use job assignments to groom high-potential managers, but what kinds of experiences are really valuable for developing manager potential?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Paul Tesluk talks about how to help employees stretch to develop into top managers. Tesluk and co-author Joyce E. A. Russell, Ralph J. Tyser Distinguished Teaching Fellow, with former Smith PhD student Lisa Dragoni, now at Cornell University, and In-Sue Oh, University of Iowa, examine the effectiveness of “stretch assignments” in new research in the Academy of Management Journal.