One of the more
consistent complaints that I hear is that "I
never have time to do useful stuff because I am always too busy".
In the early days of
Vistage at a workshop for potential members we always asked the same question:
"Are
you working on the business or are you working IN the business?"
and then watched for
the heads nodding. In fact many of the CEOs there were not hands on or worse,
hands in, they were fingers in and knew it.
There is no doubt that
many leaders, especially those who founded the business and has overseen its
growth, still find difficulty in accepting that other people can do the job as
well as they can.
It isn't conceit or
arrogance; it is simply a feeling, rightly or wrongly, that "if I do it, then I know that it will
be right"..
Of course that is not
always the case but if leaders screw up then there is usually nobody to hold
them accountable. It is yet another case
where the isolation of the leader can militate against success in the business.
The higher we go
through an organisation, the fewer people there are to give us the reassurance
that we are doing a good job and that demeans emotional stamina.
Not in every case, of
course, but if the leader has the self- confidence, indeed self-belief, then
perhaps we can understand a modicum of arrogance.
Most leaders have to accept
the feeling of isolation. Virtually everyone within the purview of the leader
has a hidden agenda and those that don't are seldom a good sounding board
anyway.
Take all this into
account so what on earth persuades talented people to go into business rather
than be in thrall to others?
Most of the members of
my Vistage CEO peer groups would claim, with some pride (and accuracy), that
they are virtually unemployable.
Very few of them would
be able to work for someone else and that often shows up when the leader sells
the business and is expected to stay on for an earn-out over a period of time.
Again, the question
must be asked, what is it that drives a talented individual to go it alone?
My favourite
psychologist, Frederick Herzberg has the answer. He suggested that motivational
facets of working life are either positive or negative; the positive factors
include, for example, achievement, growth, the work itself, advancement and
recognition.
The fact is that
irrespective of our position in the organisation those are the factors that
motivate us and in the case of the leader are not always appropriate.
Typically advancement
and recognition are more in the gift of the leader rather than the likelihood
of their applying to him/her. Indeed these are factors that the leader has to
give rather than receive to help the team grow.
The leader has to learn
to live with the isolation of the position and without some of the major
motivational factors.
The two biggest
motivators for the leader are, unquestionably, growth and achievement that
taken together can be described as the drive to succeed.
Most great leaders are
avid learners if not always readers and they are most certainly motivated by
achievement. At the same time they can help their people motivate themselves by
ensuring that the positive motivators are well to the forefront of the business
culture.
For the leader in the
main the motivators are primarily self-imposed if there is nobody to help him/her
to a little introspection.
An excellent way to
escape or at least ease the isolation is to hire a personal mentor. We have
personal trainers to help us care for our bodies so why not the same for our
minds?
Even better join a peer
group like Vistage, cut down on the isolation and gain both a mentor and
accountability to the group.
Commercial
break over.
The real reason that
entrepreneurs work 80 hours a week is to escape the tyranny of having to work
40 hours a week for someone else.
Download my book "Leading to Success" from Amazon Kindle
Visit the Vistage UK website
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