(neither great performers nor great
attitudes) are easy to make decisions
about. We keep the first category and
we let go of the last category. This goes
without questioning.
The part where we now need to make
tough decisions are with the second and
third categories. Great performers but
wrong attitude and Non great performers
with great attitudes. When you need to
make a decision on these two categories
it needs to be well thought out. Richard
Branson for instance says that he hires for
attitude but trains for skill.
Personally I have discovered that if
we have a great performer with a lousy
attitude they will contaminate the rest
of the team and things can get very toxic
and as such it is easy for me to let go. They
may deliver heaven on earth but we will
spend much more fixing the damage they
will eventually leave behind.
However if we are going to go for
attitude we must ensure that the person
despite not being a great performer at the
moment, has the humility to learn and
grow themselves and to do it fast.
Another criteria for succession that is
rarely talked about is what I call the spirit
angle. The greatest successors are those
who carry the spirit of the leader. This is
important. It is one thing to inherit the
office of leadership but a totally different
thing to inherit the spirit of leadership.
The office of leadership is given but the
spirit of leadership is taken. It is taken by
people who have imbibed the spirit of the
leader through association, observation
and desire. They are then able to add their
own unique flavor to the spirit that they
inherited. This means that you as a leader
must carry yourself in a way that people
covet what you have and by saying this I
am not talking about your title but what
makes the title attractive - the spirit.
Developing The Right
Structure
When you start a business or any
endeavor for that matter, what is needed
most in terms of human resource is
availability. Because you probably do not
have enough money to hire top talent you
get started with what is available. As you
grow, availability begins to give way to
ability. Many never develop the structure
that can handle ability and so they remain
mediocre with cousins and nephews and
nieces who are very mediocre working
with them.
Unfortunately these people become
liabilities
because
they
become
untouchable and as a result they reduce
the gross performance index of the entire
organization. There are no consequences
for their non-performance and the non-
performance of those close to them. They
stayed at the level of availability when the
organization had moved to the level of
ability.
Many do not make the transition because
they cannot handle the demand that comes
with structure. Think of it - you started the
business and grew the brand to where it
was attractive to people with ability but
then the structure and order required for
this become challenging especially as it
becomes evident that you will have to give
up your power. Structure means you are
not doing things as you did when you were
everything in the organization.
If you travel to rich nations and do a
comparison between rich nations and
developing nations the one thing that
stands out so glaringly is structure. In
rich nations things work like clockwork.
Now if you compare rich neighborhoods
(even in developing nations) with poor
neighborhoods again, you will see that
structure plays a vital role. In the rich
neighborhoods, houses have designated
rooms for sleeping, for eating for watching
television, for reading and so on. In the
poor neighborhoods, literally everything is
muddled up and done in one room.
So also in business. The more structure a
business has the more likely it is to succeed
and transcend generations. In African
Nations, national wealth is accessible to
leaders because there is no structure to
protect the wealth of the nation from the
hands of corrupt office holders. Structure
is the key to excellence.
The Wrap Up
Let me end with a narrative from the Bible.
The Children of Israel were wandering
for forty years in the wilderness. They fed
on manna from heaven and they were
basically just wanderers. A time came
when they were going to now enter the
Promised Land and they were given a very
important instruction: “You shall not do at
all what we are doing here [in the camp]
today, every man doing whatever is right
in his [own] eyes.” Deuteronomy 12:8 –
Amplified Bible.
There you have it. As long as you continue
doing what is right in your own eyes and
you continue to operate without a sound
structure, you will continue to wander in
the wilderness and the Promised Land will
be nothing more than a mirage.
Finally, never forget that no one is too big
to fail. No one is too rich to fall. Success
creates a blind spot in business decision
makers that often makes it difficult for
them to see when they are going down
the road of other failed businesses. This
is why effective succession planning is a
must. A time comes when you need fresh
eyes. Unfortunately your eye glasses in
the natural will not help you to see your
organization better. Eye glasses do not
deal with corporate blind spots created by
success.
How then can you overcome this blind
spot if you are successful? A time comes
when you have to pay attention to the
haters. They do not care about your
feelings. They will tell it to you the way it
is. Listen to those who tell you what you
don’t want to hear. Identify those who do
not always agree with you.
I have adopted a personal mantra where
teams are concerned. If everyone always
agrees with me all the time, then there is
no need for them to be there. A person
who has two left shoes doesn’t need one.
If you are part of my team and you always
agree with me, then I am always right
(which is impossible) and therefore there
is no need for you. My greatest disciple is
not the one that always agrees with me but
the one that helps me to see in the places
where I am blind.
The hard truth is that, if you're going to
remain relevant you have to give up control
from where the organization is run from
your whims and desires to a structure that
can run without you. When you do this
well, in your absence lies your relevance.
Dr. Akinyemi is the Chief
Transformation Officer, PowerTalks
Corporate & Personal Development
Consultants. You can commune
with him on this or related matters
via email at: Wale@powertalks.biz.