Click here to return to Blog Post Intro
Introduction
If we don’t pass the leadership baton well, the mission of whatever we’re leading could be lost. It’s all about passing on something of greater value to the next generation. We lead in order to replace ourselves. At the end of the day, we’re not successful leaders unless we have successors.
PART ONE: THE LEADER
Early Thoughts on Leadership
We are all in the process of being prepared by God before we can lead others. Moses’ life touched an entire nation. But before that could take place, he had to surrender emotionally and mentally to the Lord so that he could be used effectively.
At some point, all of us will have opportunities to make decisions that can potentially change the course of a situation or the life of another person. Men and women from all walks of life are asked to lead.
The Old Testament makes a very simple truth clear: People who find themselves in leadership roles have been placed there by God and not themselves.
It’s Not About You…
No matter how talented, gifted, or charismatic the person may be, he or she can’t be a “future generation leader” until the lesson is learned that leading isn’t about himself or herself.
Leadership means learning to consider those under us more than we consider ourselves.
My life, my job, and my career are not about me. My life is about fulfilling the mission God has given me. To do that, I have to humble myself before Him. Humility is a choice. Consider these examples from the Bible:
- Moses spent years learning this principle.
- Joseph was banished to prison to learn it.
- Even David, the anointed king of Israel, was forced to run for his life from a deranged king who was bent on destroying him.
- The apostle Peter was a rough and decisive fisherman, who had to learn humility. Peter later wrote this in 1 Peter 5:
Jim Collins’ How the Mighty Fall builds a compelling case that the first step in the decline of an organization is hubris born of success. If leaders begin to believe their own press instead of holding fast to the fact they’ve been appointed to their roles by God, they’ll quickly find themselves on a very slippery slope.
Scott Rodin, president of Rodin Consulting of Spokane, Washington, and former president of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “True Christian leadership is an ongoing, disciplined practice of becoming a person of no reputation, and thus, becoming more like Christ in this unique way.”
We must intentionally focus on those who will lead in the future. We must not think even for a moment that it’s about us. We’re simply stewards of our firms, ministries, and organizations for a period of time.
Truett Cathy, who founded Chick-fil-A, is irreplaceable in his specific roles (founder, visionary, entrepreneur, spokesman). However, he is also a leader who has thought through the future and has prepared a team of men and women to carry on the mission of the company after he is no longer the leader. He has stepped aside as CEO to let his son (after years of training him) take over. By doing so, he ensured the company will continue on.
Ron Blue, in his role as founder and visionary of Ronald Blue & Company, can’t be replaced. However, by his training of Crosson and, subsequently, the myriad of other financial advisors in our company, he is no longer the sole person providing financial advisory services to clients. As a result, the mission of the company continues even now although Ron is no longer active in the day-to-day business.
A good measurement of whether someone is really a great leader or just a great contributor to an entity is what happens after the leader is gone. Does the mission carry on?
When You Get the Why
As a leader, you exist to carry and promote the fire of the mission for whatever entity you lead. In so doing, you’re called to sacrifice on behalf of those you’re leading. Leaders who have a fire for the company’s goals and vision automatically draw others as followers. Passion is one of the greatest characteristics of any leader that must be passed on.
Far too many leaders want to do everything themselves. And when a leader tries to make every decision and insists on having input in every aspect within a company, he or she is holding back those who could be leading and helping the company grow and become stronger. Delegation, by definition, is “letting someone else do what we’ve been doing.”
Until humility is present in the lives of leaders, they will continue to think no one can do the job as well as they can. Leadership focused on control stifles the next generation and retards their growth. And worst of all, potential successors who have the skill packages to continue to promote the company’s vision many times leave because they lose patience waiting for the leader to give them more responsibility. Great leaders know how to delegate and train those who are coming up behind them.
Do what only you can do. Train the next leaders by saying no to jobs or responsibilities that can be delegated to someone else on your team.
Great Leaders vs. Bad Leaders: Which One Will You Become?
Great leaders aren’t afraid of the strengths found in others. Bad leaders are intimidated by them.
Any ministry, business, church, or family is only as successful as the people the leaders they train and develop. Joe Gibbs, three-time Super Bowl-winning coach of the Washington Redskins and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, stated in a letter he wrote to Ronald Blue & Co.: “I always feel like success in coaching revolves around the right players…Pick the right people and they are going to make you look good…[Therefore, it’s wise] to spend your time and your resources picking your people…One of the key aspects of being a coach [leader] is realizing we must be great communicators; it is the responsibility of the coach [leader] to be sure that all players on the team understand the objectives and the plan on how to achieve them.”
The best decision we can make is to surround ourselves with capable people—including some who are smarter and quicker than we are.
Great leaders listen and accept feedback without feeling threatened. They create environments where input—even contrary input—is welcomed and listened to.
How Great Leaders Lead
Isopraxism is an anthropological explanation of how athletes pull toward the same energy in team sports. In our terms, if one person, especially the leader, gets discouraged or feels defeated, the entire group will be affected. Part of isopraxism includes encouraging team members to keep going.
Although who you are as a leader is as important as why you’re leading (the mission), how you lead may be the most important aspect of all. How you lead reveals the core motivation of your heart. Let’s look at some key characteristics for the how of great leadership:
- Passionate: Those we’re leading are watching us. And as leaders, our passion is contagious.
- Tenacious: Denotes strength, courage, and determination. It’s an attitude that never quits.
- Enthusiastic: Essential to strong leadership. When people see our energetic mindsets and our passions, they will be more likely to catch our vision and mission.
More characteristics of great leaders:
- Single-Mindedness (Philippians 3:13): Ability to stay focused on the one thing that’s most important to accomplishing the mission.
- Avoids Entanglements (2 Timothy 2:4): Ability to not become too busy, which requires simplifying our lives and decluttering them by saying no to some things so we can stay focused on the main mission. Ability to say no and neglect many good things so I can stay focused on the best thing—our mission.
- Follows God’s Principles (2 Timothy 2:5): All great leaders must have the utmost integrity.
- Works Hard (2 Timothy 2:6): Great leaders model a strong work ethic. They’re diligent. I don’t promote 60- to 80-hour workweeks as the norm. Psalm 127:2 says, “In vain, you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for [the Lord] grants sleep to those he loves.” Next-generation leaders need to see us working hard and not being lazy. And that goes for home too. Our children need to see us working diligently at home so they will develop a good work ethic and understand responsibility.
- Travels Light (Acts 28:30): Don’t get bogged down by carrying a lot of commitments outside your family and enterprise you’re leading. Crosson notes, “This requires constant monitoring (and getting input from my wife). Over the years, I’ve learned that if I take on a new commitment, I have to decide what goes off the list.”
- Continues to the End (2 Timothy 3:14): Don’t quit until a successful transition is made to the next generation of leaders.
- Consistent and Constant (Acts 17:17): The discipline of “over communicating organizational clarity,” as author Patrick Lencioni calls it, is a key characteristic of any great leader because it helps keep the fire burning for the mission.
PART TWO: THE FUTURE LEADER
Characteristics of a Successor: What to Look for in NextGen Leaders
We need to look for actions, decisions, and behaviors that reveal true leadership potential. Here are ten characteristics to look for as we seek to hire and mentor individuals to serve with us and eventually become leaders in our organizations:
- Fire in the Belly: Willingness to pitch in to help advance the mission wherever and whenever a need exists. If your employee exhibits an incessant drive to shape the external environment and make progress in a way that advances the mission of your organization, that’s a sure sign there’s “fire in that belly.”
- “Big Picture” Thinking: Ability and intellectual capacity to see ambiguous, complex, nonquantifiable situations from a broader view or in a broader context—from the immediate work environment, and within the broader organization, and in the external business environment. Signs of “big picture” thinkers include demonstrating a curiosity about subjects outside their areas of expertise. Look at industry and cultural changes and then propose suggestions to “get ahead or stay ahead of the curve” so the organization will be in a good position for what’s coming down the road.
- Quick and Continual Learning: We need to be raising up next-generational leaders who are on passionate quests to learn and grow. Crosson produces one or two book reports a year that he forwards to my leadership team, along with ideas and concepts that might improve the business or encourage them that our company is on the right track. The saying that “leaders are readers” is true!
- Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) is a person’s ability to identify, assess, understand, and effectively work through his or her own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. While having a high level of self-awareness is an important aspect of being emotionally intelligent, EQ in a business sense is primarily an “others focused” way of thinking and interacting.
- Solid Thinking Skills: Incorporates the ideas of taking what is seen in the “big picture” and what has been learned intellectually, and applying this knowledge to form practical, workable plans that are actionable within the business. Next-generation individuals see what’s happening directionally, think ahead, and then provide any information required—often before you realize you need it. Crosson’s management team calls this “Anticipatory Followership.”
- Strong Character and Integrity: Make sure their walks match their talk.
- Drive: Because men and women with drive are so good at delivering results, it can be tempting to overlook the character flaws. Look beyond the results—which are usually stellar—and gain insights into their heart motivation. Having individuals in leadership roles who have the wrong motivation can do great harm to the business.
- Others Focused: People who have an innate desire to help people succeed. Though they’re very capable in their own right, they see sharing what they’ve learned as an investment in those coming up behind them.
- Business Savvy: Ability to understand the business in its entirety with a keen eye toward staying in the business. Comprehend the total picture of the business—how it makes money and how the various parts (divisions, departments, and the like) need to come together to accomplish the organization’s mission and financial objectives.
- Bias Toward Action: One of the things Crosson likes to say is, “Strategic thinking is good; strategic planning is better; but strategic action is best!” A bias toward action is evident when a leader knows when to stop planning and when to start implementing.
Follow Well to Lead Well: Key Actions of a Successor
To lead well, you must first follow well. Followers anticipate where the boss is going and work to get there one step ahead of him or her. Great followers realize they are stewards of their positions, and it’s their job to focus on making the business—and the boss—successful.
What does it take to become an excellent follower?
- Each one of us is called to follow the person of Jesus.
- Great followers seek to stay one step ahead of their boss. “Anticipatory Followership” is one of the quickest paths to more responsibility and subsequent leadership.
- Terrific followers exceed expectations. They do their work thoroughly, accurately, and beyond what was expected.
- Make your leader look good. Jimmy Collins, in his book Creative Followership, put it this way, “Let others see the boss in you.”
- Always build a relationship with the leader.
Believing you’re always right is a result of pride. Early in his career, Crosson was told by a mentor, “Russ, you can be right and dead wrong.” What did that comment mean? It meant that even if he was right, if he didn’t learn how to positively influence people to implement the change or idea, then it was of no use to the company or to him.
So many people today clamor to be noticed and get ahead. To grow in influence, leaders need to remove “I” from their vocabulary and replace it with “us” and “we.”
Freedom from Following: Getting What You Want
People are most fulfilled in their jobs when they operate at a high level of autonomy. This autonomy, however, is something that has to be earned over time. Freedom is control of the what, when, and how of the work—when you’re trusted to do it independently. You can earn more freedom by helping your manager have…
- Confidence in your competence by producing exceptional results on a consistent basis
- Respect for your character by demonstrating a high level of integrity daily
- Rapport with your personality by making an effort to connect or build a relationship with him or her
“Freedom from being a follower” is developing more opportunities to act independently.
Coaching to Build Succession: Providing Intentional Development
A good coach is hands-on and intimately involved with each team member. Daniel Harkavy in Becoming a Coaching Leader, mentions five specific techniques:
- Counseling: Counselors help people confront their issues and challenge them to think through different approaches they can take as they go forward.
- Teaching: Teachers help people understand the facts.
- Training: Role of trainer is to: (1) teach new behaviors and skills; (2) reinforce the new behaviors when observed; and (3) encourage the learner to practice the new behaviors and skills. The “coach trainer” needs to be clear about what needs to be developed and help employees stay laser-focused on their skills and behaviors until they’re mastered.
- Consulting: Consultants make specific recommendations based on what they’ve observed.
- Mentoring: A mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor, who shares personal experiences, gives advice or guidance, and provides people with insights about what has worked for them in the past.
A coach’s focus is on helping people become the very best they can be. The fact that some people are easier for you to relate to than others doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility to develop the potential of all those you’ve been called to lead.
Effectively leading and developing people requires a willingness and capability to adjust your leadership style to meet the needs of the individuals. Great Leaders care – they (as noted by the definition of care) “support and protect; are attentive; and have watchful regard.”
Good questions can be one of the most powerful tools in your “people development” tool kit. Giving your team members the answers may seem easier in the short run, but good questions facilitate the development of good thinking skills, which are critical to the success of your future leaders and your company.
The less you do, the more you will accomplish; the less you do, the more you allow others to accomplish. Coaches never win championships; teams do. The mission and entity are more important than you.
The Sage: Leaving a Mark that Lasts
Ernesto Poza, in his book Family Business, discusses six styles of exiting leaders:
- Monarch: Doesn’t leave until forced out and thinks no one can replace him or her.
- General: Leaves reluctantly and plots a return, hoping the successor fails. Generals are decisive and in no way look to help successors succeed.
- Inventor: Leaves the leadership position and moves back into vocational work.
- Governor: Ensures the successor is trained and ready before moving on.
- Transition Czar: Provides active leadership during the overlap period when the company’s reins are being handed off. We see this type of transition period in the United States presidency between the November elections and the newly-elected president being sworn in to office in January. This type of transition provides stability and consistency to the entity.
- Ambassador: Remains involved to help others learn about the business, and weighs in on how to manage the business. It’s very rare to see the final style (ambassador) fulfilled successfully. That’s typically because most leaders don’t leave well.
Will you aspire to leading your company, family business, or ministry in such a way that it will still go on strong when the time comes for you to leave? That is the best mark you can leave.