Failure of new leaders under my responsibilty used to make me feel worse than it should. As I diligently studied leadership and advanced in leadership skills, I thought surely I could predict if someone was going to lead well or not. I have been sorely wrong.
Now I know better. While I am ultimately responsible for every leader who works with me, I acknowledge this principle: You cannot be certain that someone is ready to lead in a particular position, until they lead in that position. For many years I refused to submit to this truth. I thought too highly of myself as a “leadership predictor.”
When I choose a leader and place them in authority, while I do my best to empower them, I have adopted another important task: test whether they can lead well at that level. When we choose a new leader, there is a lot at stake, and we have a tendency to want to protect them and make excuses for them in the name of empowering them. True, we must give people time, but we often give them too much time. How long do I give a new leader to establish themselves and demonstrate effectiveness? Three months to a year. Within that time, there are enough results and progress to indicate whether they are “getting it” or not.
What should we look for from a leader in a new position? The same qualities we look for from a leader in any position: to make things happen. Better yet, to make big things happen. Better still, to make big things happen along the trajectory of the vision. I ask myself the following: Can they turn darkness to light and despair to hope? Can they lead an apathetic team to become engaged? Turn financial loss to financial gain? Elevate a poor customer experience to a stellar one? When things are not going well, leaders step up. They don’t whine or explain. They turn ships around and do it all while honoring those they work with. Are they making these things happen?
Be intentional to select the best leaders. Be intentional to train leaders to the highest standards. But don’t be fooled or conceited. The proof is found in how the leaders walk it out in their leadership role, and that is not entirely predictable. When a leader proves they are not ready for a certain role, after getting over the disappointment in yourself that you made the wrong decision by promoting them, you have to act to reassign or remove that leader.
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