A few years ago, I read a book review by Doug Colligan about I Hate People, by Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon. What struck me about this book – which essentially documents many of the problems with human interaction in modern organizations – is that the identified problems are all driven by poor leadership. Littman and Hershon provide a reasonable response for an employee stuck in these cultures, but they also illustrate one of the main reasons I moved from being an engineer to being a business leader/strategic coach. What causes engineers to get bored, salesmen to move on, or your most productive employees to leave? Poor leadership.
I assert that poor leadership runs rampant through most organizations. It’s not through a lack of trying – most of us who have served in leadership roles have been through numerous training programs designed to help us become better leaders. The problem is execution – once a manager goes through leadership training, what is going to help him improve as a leader 2 months down the road? Once the techniques fail, what is going to drive performance in your organization?
Too often, organizations give short shrift to the cultivation and development of leaders. Even when an organization invests in leadership training, often the entire leadership development effort is completely outsourced to trainers; the critical follow-up by the trainee’s manager does not occur, or if it does, it is forgotten within 2 months. In the meantime, the employee who stabs others in the back is not corrected, or fired, which leads to poor performance throughout the organization. The obsequious employee who does no real work is retained, or promoted, which drives good employees to send out their resumes. A great employee who is extraordinarily creative, but maybe not well suited for doing simple tasks, is almost fired by a poor manager, rather than used in a manner that would make him extremely valuable for the company.
Grow Strong!
Coach Grev
Well state and damn sure true.
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