The Harvard Business Review dedicated its entire January, 2009 issue to “Transforming Leaders”, One takeaway from the issue as a whole is the need to move well from “you and me” to “we”.
Of course transitioning leaders must pick the right strategy across Start-ups, Turnarounds, Accelerated Growth, Realignment or Sustaining Success (Watkins). Of course CEO succession candidates must redouble their communication efforts with the current CEO, peers, direct reports, customers, analysts, shareholders and the board (Goldsmith). Of course shareholder value must top any CEO’s agenda (Gregory Carrott and Stuart Jackson).
But visions are inspiring and enabling only if people can see how “We all get to the end vision together” (James Kouzes and Barry Posner). And it’s important to include the broader shadow networks in the new “we” (William Byhan). And quick wins at all cost can end up as Pyrrhic victories unless the win is seen as “our win” by the collective “we” (Van Buren and Safferstone).
Put that all together and you end right back at that point that all leadership is personal. Delivering better results faster as an onboarding new leader happens only when you align people, plans and practices around a purpose that is so well shared by everyone that each of them thinks of it as “our” purpose, something that “we” all are committed to personally.
George Bradt
PrimeGenesis Executive Onboarding and Transition Acceleration
