position – the more quickly you will lead the field. Your race is to grow leaders fast and develop a “culture of
leadership” before your competition does.
A leadership culture is one where everyone thinks like an owner, like a CEO or managing director.
It’s one where everyone is entrepreneurial and proactive. This means they focus on getting to solutions
rather than on the problems. This means they do whatever it takes to keep customers happy. This means
they worry about sales and do their part to reduce costs. This means they take personal responsibility for
achieving results that move the business forward (whether they run the mailroom or sit in a boardroom).
This means they shape culture, stay positive and lead by example. We’ve helped our clients create
leadership cultures and the results have been nothing short to remarkable.
The ultimate competitive advantage of your
Enterprise comes down to a single imperative – your
Ability to grow and develop leaders faster than
Your competition.
I pray that I’ve been clear: I’m not saying everyone needs to do the job of a CEO or managing
director. Showing leadership doesn’t mean every employee will run the organization. That would lead to
chaos. Businesses do need someone to set the vision and then lead the team to it. All I’m suggesting is
that all the people on your team need to know their role and then show up fully in that role – like a leader
would. And when they do – when they think, feel and act like leaders – good things will happen. And soon,
your organization will get to great.
22.
Your Four – Minute Mile
The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once observed: “Most people take the limits of their vision to be the
limits of the world. A few do not. Join them.” Profound point. The life that you see this very moment isn’t
necessarily the life of your future. You might be viewing things through the eyes of your fears, limitations
and false assumptions. Once you clean up the stained glass window you see the world through, guess
what? A whole new set of possibilities appears. Remember, we see the world not as it is but as we are.
That idea changed my life, over a decade ago, when I was an unhappy lawyer searching for a better way to
live.