Leadership Lessons from Biden's exit
Heather E. McGowan
Keynote Speaker | LinkedIn Top Voice | Eyeglass Addict | Author at The Adaptation Advantage + Empathy Advantage | Aspirational Polymath | Belligerent Optimist | Thalassophile
Photo credit: SUSAN WALSH / AP
(This is not a political post)
President Joe Biden announced yesterday that he is not running for re-election. Listening to historians this morning debate and reflect on how few leaders relinquish power and how many feel the “right” to a second term, I was struck by a few parallels in business.
Leadership Rights vs. Responsibilities
I am (personally) frustrated by how selfish we have become — as a country, as a society, and, yes, in business. We have over-indexed on our rights. Notably: our right to power and our right to behave in ways that are disrespectful to each other. In Robert Putnam’s latest book, The UpSwing , he notes we are in a high “I/Me” phase when you look across our economy, politics, society, and culture. He believes these swings from the individual to the collective occur every 80–100 years. What are our responsibilities to each other as a society, culture, and in our business? As a leader, what is your responsibility to leave the organization better than you found it? What is your responsibility to help all those around you become the next best version of themselves? What is your responsibility to build a strong team of folks who lead in your absence — notably, if you can succeed in doing so that no one knows you have departed? (It is certainly debatable whether or not Biden should have exited earlier)
Role of Succession in Leadership
Perhaps one of the most important things you do is how you impact others. In the words of Harvard Business School Professor and Author, Frances Frei , “Leadership is about empowering other people as a result of your presence, and making sure that impact continues in your absence.” Leadership is not about you but how you improve others. Your job should be thought of as a custodian of the role, preparing those around you to assume it. Your legacy lives in those you impacted. (It is certainly debatable whether or not Biden should have promoted a team of successors who could then be selected by the American people through a primary process)
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Business Continuity
Dee Hock , the visionary founder of the Visa credit card and, indeed, our entire system of credit cards, stepped down in 1984 and barely anyone noticed because he had built a system that thrived organically.
“To put it another way, I believe that purpose and principle, clearly understood and articulated, and commonly shared, are the genetic code of any healthy organization. To the degree that you hold purpose and principles in common among you, you can dispense with command and control. People will know how to behave in accordance with them, and they’ll do it in thousands of unimaginable, creative ways. The organization will become a vital, living set of beliefs.”
– Dee Hock, Founder of Visa Credit Card
(Biden’s legacy is being written over the next six months. Did he leave a living set of beliefs and a team prepared to effectuate them?)
Where Do We Go From Here? We have neither a crystal ball nor a time machine. We only have what we can do today. As a leader are you leaving those around you better than you found them? Increasing your organizational capacity and your organizational health is your best hedge against persistent uncertainty. Will we move, as Putnam predicts, and I hope, away from selfishness and more towards collective interest? I am a belligerent optimist determined to manifest a future of shared purpose and accountability, which I believe unlocks human potential.
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3 个月Understanding when to leave is critical, and staying long enough to see the organizational decay is probably bringing 'The Peter Principle' to reality.
Leadership & Executive Coach | Author: Closing The Confidence Gap? | Founder: Clarity & Confidence?? Corporate Women’s Leadership Programs | Keynote Speaker | Enneagram Coach & Facilitator
3 个月I posted about this today, too, because In our culture, we make up stories how quitting is failure. But I see leaders who inflict so much stress, burnout and dissatisfaction in themselves and in their teams because they refuse to quit something that has surpassed its usefulness. Perhaps what we can learn from watching the political stage is that smart quitting not only takes the strongest version of you, but it also strengthens the people around you, too. Quitting allows an intentional reset to improve everyone’s chances of success.