| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
The Greatest Leaders Are Often The Worst Leaders
It's a common occurrence, a CEO leads a company to record earnings, retires and in months, those once high-flying earnings are dropping like shot ducks. Observers blame the new leadership team. But most likely the observers are wrong. It's not just the new leaders who are screwing up. Instead, it was most likely the former CEO. Yes, the former, supposedly great CEO. Look to him for what went wrong - and what went wrong provides lessons for leaders at all levels. The reasons are clear but seldom recognized. They get back to the raison d'être of leadership - which is not the performance of the individual leader but the improved results of those being led. The problems lie in the definition of results. For when results are defined narrowly, i.e. in strict terms of share, margin, shareholder value, profits, organizations lose their elasticity. And the quality of organizational elasticity is linked to its culture of leadership, leadership with a broader vision of results, encompassing the necessity to hire and develop people who lead others to get results. So when decline follows the departure of great leaders, the safe bet is that those "great" leaders haven't hired and developed leaders - and so really weren't great at all, no matter what results they got. In fact, they were quite poor. To paraphrase Vince Lombardi on winning, getting good leaders for your team isn't everything, it's the only thing. The moment that you decide to hire, that very moment, is the living, breathing future of your organization. A curious chemistry takes place in the hiring process. We don't just reach outward, we also reach inward. In hiring leaders, we invariably hire ourselves - our strengths and weaknesses. So the hand we reach out to shake is not just the other person's hand, it's our hand. Hire to our strengths, we hire strong leaders. Hire to our weaknesses, we hire weak leaders. I know a brilliant, young executive in a multimillion dollar manufacturing company whose ambition to become CEO of that company may founder on his maddening propensity to hire leaders who may be good but who are none-the-less not the very best. That's because the leaders he hires must have what is an unstated but at the same time real skill: the ability to curry his favor. Those leaders are ostensibly qualified. But they are often not the very best of the pool because they come equipped with that extraneous skill. Since results on his teams are also defined as the care and feeding of his ego, that executive is hiring to his weaknesses, so he continually makes what may ultimately turn out to be garbage-in-garbage-out hiring decisions that can ultimately wreck his ambitions. On the other hand, I know another young executive, not nearly as brilliant, but whose hiring dictum may very well get him farther along in life. The dictum is: Hire leaders who can not only do well in this position but in the next position and maybe even the position beyond that. In other words, he hires to his strengths, his inner sense of self-confidence, which allows him to surround himself with people who are smarter and in some ways more capable than he - and so is creating a rising tide of action and results that will further his career in powerful ways. As Steven Jobs said, "I don't hire people to tell them what to do but to tell me what to do." Yet hiring people who are capable of supplanting you isn't enough. Do more. Actively develop the knowledge, skills and careers of those leaders to give them the best possible chance of supplanting you. An epitaph on a 1680 New England gravestone speaks to this: What I gave, I have. What I spent, I had. What I left, I lost. By not giving it. That can be an epitaph for failed leaders. By not giving to your leaders, not developing their skills and careers, you lose them, lose the opportunity to have their riches enrich you. Nobody is a success unless others want them to be. And when you have a passionate desire for their success, for helping them improve and achieve their goals, when they know that working on your team will be a defining experience of their career - then you will have people who want like hell for you to be a success. The decline following the departure of "great" leaders indicates that those leaders were most likely control-monsters, commanders not convincers, great at getting jobs done themselves but not challenging others to do them. And when those others are ignored, they become inept. So let's take an additional yardstick to our leaders and measure their total value, both when they're there and after they have left. Link that value to deferred compensation, bonuses, stock options for executives and to partially-delayed evaluations for middle managers and supervisors - or whatever. When leaders define their performance beyond their tenure, they will most likely pay more attention to those two factors that are absolutely necessary for any organization's continued well-being: getting and developing exceptional leaders. ============================= PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 20 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at http://www.actionleadership.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Leadership - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Incandescence Of The Human Spirit There lives within every individual a power, an energy, an incandescence of spirit that is being constantly held in check, like a dimmer switch turned way down.A lifetime of being told: "we are nothing special; to stand out is egotistic and wrong; to conform is necessary; to be different is bad; the collective good must be served even to the determent of our own being; we must support; we must never defy; to question authority is inherently evil; the majority is always right; don't rock the boat;" -- creates an habitual thought pattern of lassitude, often leaving us without any sense of our ability to make a substantial difference and therefore with no real sense of urgency. 3 Es For Leaders - Engage, Empower, Encourage! "Enflamed with the study of learning and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave.. Leadership In The Zone! "You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do. Leadership - Push vs. Pull? At your next staff meeting consider leading your team through the following discussion.This lesson is focused on getting people to think in terms of effective leadership. You Make The Difference What do you think makes your company successful? Your newest hardware or software? The newest system you've put into place? The best location in town? Although these are important, they are not the key to success.Today it's not enough to produce a product and get the work done. Being an Extraordinary Leader Through Tough and Challenging Times Tough and challenging times will surely come. That is a given. Leadership: 9 Universal Laws 1. The Law of Authoritarian StyleAuthoritarian leaders lead by control and fear. To be, or Not to be (Average)? When is hate OK? When it's the feeling you have toward average. Let me make this point clearly and without reservation. Four Obstacles to Exceptional Leadership--Part 1 "Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." -- Orison Swett MardenEvery day leaders are faced with challenges to expand their thinking, overcome obstacles and embrace potential growth. Leadership Training Seminar - What Makes A Great Leader? At one point or another, we have all been either a leader or a follower. While both roles are equally important, a leader plays an instrumental role in providing direction for his/her followers. The Three Essential Attributes of a Leader: The Demonstrated Abilities Leaders need to:1. Have a vision to which they are committedLeaders arrive with a vision: a deeply thought out view of what to do to make a difference in the complex, competitive world of today. 5 Leadership Power Principles! 95% of Workers Fail Because of This.. Ask Yourself Whats In It For WE? "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. A Whack Up Long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Imperative When we perceive the simple center in the seemingly complex, we can change our world in powerful new ways.Albert Einstein perceived the simple E=MC2 in the complexities of physical reality and changed the history of the 20th century. F2 Leadership People don't leave jobs; they leave bosses. -- AnonymousCongratulations. E=MC - Is It In Me? How many times have you seen the E = MC2 formula and wondered what it might mean to you?Old Einstein had a lot more up his sleeve than fancy algebraic equations. This particular "thought experiment" still inspires discoveries of various sorts throughout the world today. Supervisor Training: Helpful Tips to Lead Your Pack A new supervisor is hired to anchor a gardening project that has fallen apart. The last supervisor walked out on the job because he was overwhelmed with the high expectations of the project. What Kind of Leader Are You? There are literally millions of words written and spoken each week on enlightened leadership yet the fact remains that low morale, high stress and job dissatisfaction continue to be three of the most serious problems facing the workplace. We seem to be so effectively socialized into top down leadership that we find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to change our autocratic ways. 7 Excellent Ways To Improve Your Leadership Skills! Did you know that there are 7 really effective yet powerful ways to improve your leadership learning opportunities?If you have ever looked at using a leadership skills training program, you probably have run smack into one or more of the following problems:- leadership training will usually cost you some serious money - in fact, some programs are outrageously expensive- leadership training programs last for a very short time - quite a few of them run for only one or two days- many leadership training programs fail to give you some way to support or help you meet your daily challenges- less than 1% of all leadership training programs couple coaching and mentoring follow-ups with classroom sessions- most leadership training programs like to do 'raw data dumps'- the vast majority of them do NOT give you chances to 'blend' your learning experiences with supervised practiceThis article will help you to find, use and take advantage of every leadership skills learning opportunity you encounter - you will be able to employ your leadership skills in highly effective, more creative and powerful ways.Power Strategy - 1 -- Make sure you get clearly defined and significant returns on your training investment!When you spend your money on training are you looking for entertainment, engagement or education?I don't know about your priorities but I know that I demand a ton of convincing to invest in training of any sort. Wisdom From The Rock He grew up in Brooklyn, the son of an ex-con father and with a Mob-connected uncle who earned a living as a loan-shark. He credits his father continually saying, "Never lie, never steal," as an influence in his making a better career choice.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
