Most of us are unbalanced. We are relatively stronger in some areas than we are in others. It's important to know yourself so you can lead from your areas of relative strength and get others to help you compensate for your other areas.
Some are particularly strong in the plans area and strategic processes.
Others are relatively strong with people and organizational processes.
Still others are stronger in practices and operational processes.
Get the help you need
If you are less strong in strategic processes, partner with a particularly strong chief strategy officer.
If you are less strong in organizational processes, partner with a particularly strong chief human resource officer.
If you are less strong in operational processes, partner with a particularly strong chief operating officer.
And, if you are one of those few balanced people, partner with a chief of staff to give you leverage.
Frank Wells and Michael Eisner at Disney
Frank Wells epitomizes this. He was hired by the Bass brothers to turn Disney around. Realizing that he was particularly strong on the operations side, he told them he wanted to hire Eisner as his boss to provide the creative/strategic spark to the business that he knew was not his strength. The Wells-Eisner partnership was able to lead Disney's turn-around.
I think it's far better to succeed with a partner than to fail on your own. What do you think?
