Deliver | Develop Others as Leaders

Jack Welch's coach at GE, Noel Tichy, is convinced that this is an essential part of long-term success:

Several years ago, the great disparity between the track records of the corporate winners and losers prompted me to specifically tackle the broader question: Why do some companies succeed while others fail? The answer I came up with is that winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organisation. Therefore, the ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches others to be leaders and builds an organisation that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around. The key ability of winning organisations and winning leaders is creating leaders.

And Bossidy echoes the message:

The foundation of a great company is the way it develops people - providing the right experiences, such as learning in different jobs, learning from other people, giving candid feedback, and providing coaching, education, and training. If you spend the same amount of time and energy developing people as you do on budgeting, strategic planning, and the financial monitoring, the payoff will come in sustainable competitive advantage.

Surveying the crowd at the first meeting of IBM's Senior Leadership Group in 1996, Lou Gerstner, the blunt-talking chief executive charged with saving Big Blue from the brink, issued an edict: Go back to School! The directive must have surprised and likely angered more than a few of the 300 senior executives – including Gerstner's own direct reports – many of whom had been with the tech giant for decades. When Gerstner told them they would be participating in a programme focused on developing their own leadership capabilities, they knew they had better listen.

While Gerstner himself has been given much of the credit for IBM's amazing turnaround, Big Blue's boss clearly recognized that the company's leadership strength extended far beyond his office.

On his watch, a comprehensive approach to building great leaders was crafted, including careful selection, development, and rewards for IBM's best talent. Leaders were held accountable for growing other leaders, and good leadership was viewed as a critical asset to be carefully managed for the best possible return. Gerstner's mandate accomplished much more than saving IBM. It positioned the company for the future by building a deep bench to ensure that Big Blue's dramatic turnaround wasn't just a passing phase.
Gandossy and Effron Close

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Ralph Nader Close

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of becoming.
Goethe Close

Being a winning leader means tapping a deep reservoir of emotional energy. This drive and the motivation mixes needs for accomplishment, power and, most importantly, institutional legacy. This is the essence of what James MacGregor Burns means by transformational leadership; namely, leaders are energized not just by the goals of the team or the organization, but by transforming and coaching individuals to be leaders themselves.
Noel Tichy Close

As a leader, you've acquired a lot of knowledge and experience - even wisdom - along the way. One of the most important parts of your job is passing it on to the next generation of leaders. This is how you expand the capabilities of everyone else in your organization, individually and collectively. It's how you will get results today and leave a legacy that you can take pride in when you move on.

Coaching is the single most important part of expanding others' capabilities. You've surely heard the saying. "give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you'll feed him for a lifetime." That's coaching. It's the difference between giving orders and teaching people how to get things done. Good leaders regard every encounter as an opportunity to coach.
Larry Bossidy Close