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Dec 10, 2010 - Identifying Future Leaders For Your Company

There is an interesting story told about the famous 19th century Scottish missionary to Africa, Dr. David Livingstone.  It seems the sponsoring missionary society in England wrote to Livingstone inquiring: "We have many fine young men with excellent training here in England inspired by your work and wishing to serve. Have you cut a road through the jungle so that they can reach your mission?"  To which Livingstone replied: "If they must have a road cut for them, I can't use them."

At some point every business owner must select someone else to lead, whether it’s to guide a major project or to lead the company after the business owner retires.  So finding and developing someone who can cut their own road is critical if the outcome is going to be successful.  We all know that people who can effectively lead come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are assertive, others are not.  Some are analytical, others are intuitive.  Some process information quickly while others are linear thinkers. 

So what is it business owners should look for when trying to build a leadership bench?  One guy who had a strong sense of the characteristics necessary for leadership was Jack Welch.  During Welch’s time as CEO of General Electric the company built a reputation for developing good business leaders.  Jack summed up his views about leadership under a program he called the 4 E’s and a P.  Here’s how Jack describes these characteristics in his book “Winning”.

  • "The first E is positive energy. For example, they start the day with enthusiasm and usually end it that way too, rarely seeming to tire in the middle. They don't complain about working hard; they love to work. They love to play. People with positive energy just enjoy life. 

  • "The second E is the ability to energize others. Positive energy is the ability to get other people revved up. People who energize can inspire their team to take on the impossible -- and enjoy the hell out of doing it. In fact, people would arm wrestle for the chance to work with them.

  • "The third E is edge, the courage to make tough yes-or-no decisions. Those with edge know when to stop assessing and make a tough call, even without total information. 

  • "The fourth E is execute -- the ability to get the job done.... It turns out you can have positive energy, energize everyone around you, make hard calls, and still not get over the finish line. Being able to execute is a special and distinct skill.  It means a person knows how to put decisions into action and push them forward to completion, through resistance, chaos, or unexpected obstacles. People who can execute know that winning is about results. 

  • "The P is for Passion! By that I mean a heartfelt, deep, and authentic excitement about work. People with passion care -- really care in their bones -- about colleagues, employees, and friends winning. They love to learn and grow, and they get a huge kick when people around them do the same. The funny thing about people with passion, though, is they usually aren't excited just about work. They tend to be passionate about everything...they just have juice for life in their veins." 

Something else to consider as you develop your bench is what another great business mind, Warren Bennis called the “Crucible”. You’ve heard me talk about Bennis, the distinguished professor of business administration at USC.  During the 80’s he conducted a study of leadership and found that all the leaders his team studied had gone through at least one intense, transformational experience.  He called this experience the crucible.

“Whether the crucible experience is an apprenticeship, an ordeal, or some combination of both, we came to think of it much like the hero’s journey that lies at the heart of every myth, from The Odyssey to Erin Brockovich. It is both an opportunity and a test. It is a defining moment that unleashes abilities, forces crucial choices, and sharpens focus. It teaches a person who he or she is. People can be destroyed by such an experience. But those who are not emerge from it aware of their gifts and goals, ready to seize opportunities and make their future. Whether the crucible was harrowing or not, it is seen by the individual as the turning point that set him or her on the desired, even inevitable, course. “

The crucible is perfectly illustrated when you look at the early life of Henry Stanley.  He was the reporter for the New York Herald who led the expedition to find Dr. Livingstone in Africa after the Doctor went missing for 6 years.  Born in Wales, Stanley’s parents weren’t married so he had the stigma of being illegitimate.  His parents abandoned him so he was raised by his grandfather until age 5.  The grandfather died and then Stanley was sent to a workhouse for the poor.  Overcrowding and lack of supervision resulted in frequent abuse by the older boys.  At age 15 Stanley left the workhouse and got an elementary education.  At age 18 he moved to the United States to start a new life.  After serving in the Civil War, Stanley became a journalist and then organized an expedition to the Ottoman Empire which didn’t go very well.  It was this early life that shaped Stanley and prepared him for the 8 month journey across 7,000 miles of the African continent till he found Dr. Livingstone.

There are two other characteristics of leaders I think Stanley is a perfect example of.  The first is self confidence.  Since leaders ultimately make the important decisions they must have confidence in both their decisions, and their ability to see these decisions through to the right outcomes.  Self confidence is also an important part of the other characteristic, which is a willingness to assert one’s own personal agenda.  The leader is ultimately responsible for figuring out what needs to get done and then engaging others toward that goal.  Take the expedition to find Livingstone.  It was Stanley who lobbied the New York Herald to fund it and put him in charge.   Obviously Stanley didn’t need the road cut for him. 

So as you work to build your leadership bench, fill it with candidates like Stanley, people who live to cut their own roads.  And use stretch assignments as the crucible to transform them and build their self confidence.

Bob