Best before Date

I have written in the past about the need for so many of those in Executive positions to re-examine their ability to make meaningful contributions to their companies.  On balance I have not been kind to the Baby Boomer generation and the type of leadership that they have provided.  And I speak as an ‘early adopter’ member of the group.

The fact of the matter is that the primary objective of the vast majority of these CEO’s has been to ‘maximize shareholder value’ while simultaneously lining their own pockets with over sized compensation packages that reward them with stock options for fundamentally just doing their jobs.  And in too many instances they have padded their security blankets by ensuring that the Board is comprised of ‘friendly’ members.  For perspective, simply look at the exit package Boeing handed their departed CEO for his abject failure to navigate their recent fiasco.

With rare exceptions it is time for a changing of the guard.  The future will demand radically different thinking and the baby boomers are too tied to the present, and the past, to lead us there.  They lack personal understanding of the levels of technology that is needed.  Simply having brilliance as part of the team is insufficient to fully comprehend and implement the changes that the immediate future demands.

Succession plans must be implemented NOW.  The skills sets of the future are not embodied in the baby boomer generation.  Those in the corner office need to read their personal ‘best before date’ and make some painful admissions.

Oh, just a quick reminder, as you leave make sure you put the seat down in your personal washroom.  The next occupant prefers it that way!

Our Defining Moment - Part 2

In my previous message I stated the importance of the leader planning beyond this crisis.  Transitional, intermediate and long term planning that provides the direction of your company, or your team, in what is becoming the ‘new normal’.

I fully appreciate that there are a number of unknowns as you look into the future.  And I expect that this will be a very fluid situation with unanticipated factors impacting your decisions.

That said, it is vital to understand this.  Having a goal or an objective is not a plan.  Too often leaders confuse the end with the means and are surprised when the objective is unmet. 

This period of uncertainty is new to everyone.  Whether you anticipated it or not, there was no way to predict the impact and ultimate outcome. 

Lily Tomlin once opined that ‘truth is nothing more than a collective hunch’ and during these times one may be inclined to agree with her.

We are in the early stages of this pandemic.  Everyone is anxious to have things return to normal.  We think that a lifting of the shut-down represents the end.

The reality is that it may represent a small victory. I think that Winston Churchill’s words best represent our current situation.  During WWII he commented after a victory in North Africa “…this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end.  But this may be the end of the beginning…”

Soon you must commit to a course of action.

Once you have, communicate, communicate, communicate.

Care and listen, not the other way around. 

If your team doesn’t think you care, they won’t say anything that you can listen to!

Only now can you focus on execution.  Stay focused on the process because this is uncharted territory for all of us and the end may not even be where we think it should be.

Your leadership mettle will never be more severely tested.  I urge you not to go it alone.  If you succeed there will be glory enough to share.