Since no one really reads this blog it has become cathartic to write here for me.
I recently read a job posting (always looking at the competition) saying basically, is there a leader out there. The large company could not find anyone to fill a leadership role from inside the company. I thought about lessons I learned for a former employer and a couple best selling books.
I wondered if the company, that I'm sure is at least 30 years old, growing and has had success, did nothing to develop leaders.
That's when lessons from the old coach crept in, "I didn't care what they had done or where they had been." That coach won over 85% of his games in over 25 years would hire based on philosophy not a resume. Would this coach fit what we "are." He didn't care about anything else. I fact I interviewed 5 times over 2 months and we never once talked about football. We talked about history, philosophy, leadership, education, values and personal traits. We did it at an old weather beaten picnic table in his backyard. Every coach on that staff went on to become either a head coach or coordinator (mostly in DI).
One of my favorite leadership books talks about legacy. What do leave when your name is no longer on a door. It is the responsibility of the leader to develop others to continue a direction or finish a vision. That means giving them the spotlight. Sometimes the light is hot, blinding and uncomfortable. Sometimes it's easy. Both give opportunities to others to develop leadership. The old coach used to say "lead from the back of the pack," let others learn from their success and failures. If you pick the right people they will learn.
Another way I wonder about this companies leadership is, what is most important. If you ask me the most important job I do it is support the company. If your focus is the company it is more likely to succeed. If your focus is look at me then you are the focus and that leads to being a distraction. A friend put it like this, "If you're the head coach and you have all the ideas, you're in trouble." The other way to look at it is, if you spend your time looking for someone to tell you you're great, you're wasting a lot of time. This comes from another best seller (around the world).
So what are you doing to develop others? If it's watch what I do and you never let others do it, well maybe your just a poor leader. If you're the leader maybe you are setting up your successor for failure. Nice legacy, you can be remembered for all you did, but the old coach would see you a little differently. So would a couple of other smart guys.
I had to laugh
God bless you all.
I recently read a job posting (always looking at the competition) saying basically, is there a leader out there. The large company could not find anyone to fill a leadership role from inside the company. I thought about lessons I learned for a former employer and a couple best selling books.
I wondered if the company, that I'm sure is at least 30 years old, growing and has had success, did nothing to develop leaders.
That's when lessons from the old coach crept in, "I didn't care what they had done or where they had been." That coach won over 85% of his games in over 25 years would hire based on philosophy not a resume. Would this coach fit what we "are." He didn't care about anything else. I fact I interviewed 5 times over 2 months and we never once talked about football. We talked about history, philosophy, leadership, education, values and personal traits. We did it at an old weather beaten picnic table in his backyard. Every coach on that staff went on to become either a head coach or coordinator (mostly in DI).
One of my favorite leadership books talks about legacy. What do leave when your name is no longer on a door. It is the responsibility of the leader to develop others to continue a direction or finish a vision. That means giving them the spotlight. Sometimes the light is hot, blinding and uncomfortable. Sometimes it's easy. Both give opportunities to others to develop leadership. The old coach used to say "lead from the back of the pack," let others learn from their success and failures. If you pick the right people they will learn.
Another way I wonder about this companies leadership is, what is most important. If you ask me the most important job I do it is support the company. If your focus is the company it is more likely to succeed. If your focus is look at me then you are the focus and that leads to being a distraction. A friend put it like this, "If you're the head coach and you have all the ideas, you're in trouble." The other way to look at it is, if you spend your time looking for someone to tell you you're great, you're wasting a lot of time. This comes from another best seller (around the world).
So what are you doing to develop others? If it's watch what I do and you never let others do it, well maybe your just a poor leader. If you're the leader maybe you are setting up your successor for failure. Nice legacy, you can be remembered for all you did, but the old coach would see you a little differently. So would a couple of other smart guys.
I had to laugh
God bless you all.
PS. Just found out the competition is closing.
1 comment:
I read this stuff... and I actually learn something from time to time.
Post a Comment