If I asked you the following question:
"What comes to your mind when you think about the Leadership at Coca-Cola?"
Recent thinking on this question leads me to believe that most people would say, "Well the CEO, COO, CFO, and the executive team responsible for the organization." You would likely come to this answer because that is the way our minds have been programmed for a long long time. We tend to immediately think about the top brass. When the word leadership comes up in regard to any organization, our heads go up to an authoritative figure with a fancy title. I do agree that such people are leaders or at least they better be and they must have a plethora of leadership ability and security. However...
We have to change the common answer to the question and shift our focus forever!
When we think of the leadership in any organization large or small, we should picture the entire body of employees and the development environment in which is provided to them. Leadership should equate to a large body of people who invest in each other so that everyone may achieve greatness and produce extraordinary business outcomes for the customer, community, and stakeholders.
In order to do this there must be a systematic and organized approach to the development of people. So systematic and organized in fact that it becomes the driving force of the enterprise. In order to reach a systematic and organized approach, you must have the inner strength to take on the hard work that is entailed when it comes to developing people. The very reason so many companies fail to develop leaders as part of their business strategy is because it is so hard and often times the results are not seen for a long time. This very difficulty and reluctance to develop people is the number one reason why we are facing a talent crisis.
Leadership has to be known as the development of a group of people, not just the select few in high altitude positions.
Application:
Get together with your team and put the question on the wall. What is the common theme of the answer? Allow this to be the beginning of serious conversation and eventual action to become a business driven by LEADERSHIP. I have even provided the power point slide for you, just save it and display it in your meeting. Have all the lights off and allow it to glow on the wall when your friends arrive.
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