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A
New Age Of Small-Unit Leadership |
by:
Brent
Filson |
PERMISSION
TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished
in newsletters and on web sites provided
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Word count: 828
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Summary: Brent Filson asserts that the key
to organizational success is not just a
function of large movements of capital,
people, and infrastructure but in a single,
priceless aspect, small-unit leadership.
He offers suggestions on how to develop
and institute small-unit leadership in your
organization.
===========================================
A New Age Of Small-Unit Leadership
By Brent Filson
Recent mergers in many industries remind
me of a point that
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower often made, "Generals
move the pins on a map," he would say, "but
the front-line troops have to get the job
done."
And the key to the job is leadership, small-unit
leadership, leadership of the most basic
units or teams of an organization.
Without good leadership in front-line units
the squad leaders and platoon commanders
or their business counterparts, the supervisors
and first-level managers organizations
stumble, no matter how skillfully the pins
are moved on the map.
Yet in bringing leadership programs to many
businesses in a variety of industries during
the past 20 plus years, I've seen many companies
neglecting small-unit leadership.
Time and again, I have seen technologists
promoted right off the lab bench to become
team leaders; I've seen assembly workers
promoted off the line to be supervisors;
and salespeople made local managers and
yet they were not helped in substantive
ways with their leadership skills.
Instead, their employers were focusing on
the pins and maps, the re-engineering, acquisitions
and divestitures.
Sure, the stocks of those businesses got
quick boosts, but I wonder how well-positioned
the businesses are to achieve consistent
earnings growth over the long haul without
skilled, small-unit leadership.
Consistent earnings' growth is linked to
consistent top-line growth. Such growth
rests on a tripod. One leg is strategy,
the pins on the map; the other leg is resources;
and the third leg is execution. Small-unit
leadership is the execution leg.
So I submit that in the coming years, businesses
will come to realize the importance of small-unit
leadership to top-line growth and earnings'
growth.
In fact, the coming years will reveal an
exciting new age in small-unit leadership.
Businesses that champion such leadership
will be tremendously competitive.
Here are a few ideas on how to make it happen.
First, the CEO and senior executives must
recognize the vital importance of small-unit
leadership. I'm not talking about their
simply paying lip service but having instead
a passionate conviction that small-unit
leadership is indispensable to growth.
Senior executives must encourage small-unit
leaders. Celebrate their achievements. Help
them overcome their failures. Measure their
leadership performance. Develop compensation
that stimulates them to advance as leaders.
The Marine Corps, an organization with a
robust tradition of small-unit leadership,
has institutionalized high-level commitment
to small-unit leaders. For instance, in
chow lines in the field, the lowest ranking
troops eat first, the highest ranking last.
(How might the cultures of some organizations
start to be changed for the better if, for
instance, its executives gave small-unit
leaders parking perks, while they, the executives,
took their chances in the main lot?)
Top leaders who demonstrate commitment to
their small-unit leaders will have committed
small-unit leaders.
Without top-down commitment, effective small-unit
leadership will not flourish through the
whole business but instead in relatively
ineffective, scattered islands.
But top-level commitment, though necessary,
is not sufficient. A passion for small-unit
leadership should soak the entire culture
of the organization. Everybody must catch
the spirit of and contribute to maintaining
a culture of small-unit leadership excellence.
The word culture comes from the Latin root
meaning "to cultivate." To grow small-unit
leaders, everybody in the organization must
cultivate them. Spot them early. Bring mentors
into their lives. Set their expectations
high, not only for themselves but for their
colleagues and leaders above them. Encourage
them to develop leadership in others.
A successful executive told me that his
career was changed by a small-unit leader.
At one time, the executive was a high school
dropout working on the assembly line.
"During breaks," he said, "I always had
people gathered around me. I had this knack
of getting them interested in what I had
to say. One day, my supervisor told me something
that changed my life. He said, 'I've been
watching you with people, and you're a natural
leader. With more education, you could go
far.'"
The executive said, "Until then, I had never
looked at myself as a leader. Suddenly,
I had a vision in life. I was something
I didn't know I was: a leader. I finished
high school, went to college, and came back
here.
"That supervisor 's passion for leadership
defined my career.. He was always spotting
potential leaders and helping them become
leaders. His teams consistently racked up
the numbers because of his leadership. He
had me understand that his level of leadership
is tremendously important in our company."
Finally, the business that is serious about
small-unit leadership must systematically
develop them through well-thought-out, comprehensive
training programs.
In the coming New Age of Small-Unit Leadership,
leadership development people will have
extremely important roles to play. They
will be seen as some of the most important
leaders in the organization, since their
interaction with small-unit leaders will
be contributing directly to top-line growth,
to having people get the job done where
ever the generals place their pins in the
map.
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2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.
All rights reserved.
=============================
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent
books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST
LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT
LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president
of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and
has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide
during the past 20 years helping them achieve
sizable increases in hard, measured results.
Sign up for his free leadership ezine and
get a free guide, "49 Ways To Turn Action
Into Results," at www.actionleadership.com
About the Author
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's
recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK:
THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS
TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He has
worked with thousands of leaders worldwide
during the past 20 years helping them
achieve sizable increases in hard, measured
results. Sign up for his free leadership
ezine and get a free guide, "49 Ways To
Turn Action Into Results," at www.actionleadership.com |
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