What Would we Do Without Our Leaders?

On one of my recent posts about Marshall Goldsmith's Free Webcast, first-time visitor Easton Ellsworth from the Business Blog Wire posed the following question:

I was just wondering today what Know More Media would do without our excellent team of leaders. They are guys who know what they are doing business-wise, and they are great all-around men besides.

I think this is a good question for all of us to think about our organizations. What would we do without any of our leaders? I think the greater question is what CAN we do WHEN we lose our leaders, and what CAN we do BEFORE we lose our leaders to ensure when this inevitable day happens (WHEN, not IF) we are ready for it.

Before:

• Your department or company MUST develop a mentorship program for junior leaders to learn from the best while they are still in control - the more you share, the more you all grow. The mentor grows by sharing the knowledge, and the mentee grows by learning at the feet of the best and brightest.
• Leaders MUST be willing to share their knowledge, draw up documentation explaining what they know, and encourage others to learn and grow.
• Leaders also MUST be willing to find out their team's strengths, and develop those strengths, and hire a diverse group of players
• You MUST develop yourself, by finding out as much as you can about the core business, and to continually enhance your skills

After:

• MUST be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and journey into uncharted territory
• MUST be willing to surround yourself with others so you can work AROUND your weaknesses and stay INSIDE your strength zone
• Please note: There's a difference between your "comfort zone" and your "strength zone" but that's a topic for another day

There's more, but this is a start. If you have more, please add them in the comments so we can all learn. I firmly believe that all of us are far smarter than 1 of us, so I hope you'll share what you know.

Make it a great day!
Phil

Phil Gerbyshak
http://makeitgreat.org

Technorati Tags: leadership, management, succession planning

Comments

[Jodee Bock]

I agree with your sage advice, Phil ... however, in my experience the challenge is getting the leaders to see that their attitudes can really influence the success of the entire organization. Some of them, especially in the family-owned manufacturing businesses, seem to think they will live forever, and are not so great at setting up succession planning, and, more often than not, don't see the benefit of strengths-based leadership. I think it goes back to the fear factor ... a lot of leaders are scared to death about the stock prices or the board opinions and they tend to play not to lose rather than play to win in their own businesses. I like what Jerry wrote in the 100 Bloggers post "Overcome Fear to Reach Your Full Potential" because I think that is the key to leadership that gets beyond ego to connecting to the spirit of Unified Leadership.

So I'm going to keep your list of "befores" and "afters" for when the conversation gets to that level for my clients. Maybe this conversation will inspire me to go deeper with my current clients and to attract new clients.

Keep up the great work!

Jodee

[Lora Adrianse]

Great post Phil!

I hear what Jodee is saying too! Family owned businesses are unique "animals". I could write volumes on that topic.

Another addition to your "After" list:

If possible, keep really great leaders "in the wings" as trusted advisors. I'm not talking about keeping them on the payroll for a half a million a year (which I've seen).

What I mean is create enough incentive to keep their interest. A really great leader who has won the hearts of the people in the company can be a wonderful "Trusted Advisor" to have on call, especially during turbulant times. It's like having a "secret weapon" in your back pocket.

Lora

[Easton Ellsworth]

Great thoughts, Phil! Thanks for playing off of my comment. I've learned some new things that I can apply in my own life as a worker and perhaps someday as a business leader.