Jun25
Leadership Is What Happens When You're NOT There
My son has never, ever used a swear word … at the dinner table. He has never, ever smoked a cigarette or used drugs … at the dinner table. Am I a great dad, or what?
You don’t know how to answer that question, do you?
The measurement of my effectiveness in raising my son is not what happens when I’m present at the dinner table. It’s what happens when I’m not around at a party on the weekend or in an alley after school.
Right?
We think we’re leading our small business when we’re in the midst of a flurry of activity, getting things done, directing traffic, solving problems. While this is part of the leadership mix, it’s not the most important part.
The most important part of leadership is developing people into competent, independent contributors who embrace our values and own our business as much as we do. In short, the most important part of leadership is duplicating ourselves in others.
This is vital as summer approaches, because most of the small business owners I know fear going on vacation (or avoid it completely). Not because they can’t bear to take time off, but because they don’t want to come back to the disaster that will await them.
This happens because most small business owners—although they’re good people—are terrible leaders, never duplicating themselves in others. When you fail to lead in this way, you end up stealing time from yourself and the ones you love.
A genius with a thousand helpers may be a genius, but he’s not a leader. As a result, the genius’ business will never grow beyond himself.
