— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu at www.tomnewhouse.com. —
IT WAS ACTUALLY A RIFLE, a short-barreled pump action .22. Grampa killed many a nuisance varmints and rodents with that firearm. But Gramps died, while the .22 lived on. It went to Rudy’s son Tommy who will someday be a grandfather himself and will likely pass on the .22 to a grandson of his own.
As long as time proceeds, passing things on will continue. You, too, will pass, and what of your leadership will you pass on? Getting grim but real. It’s important to plan passing on. Too negative? Okay, I’ll be positive: Say, instead, you move up, you’ll need a replacement for your old role. So, we are back to succession planning—difficult, but not too hard. Try succession management—harder. That implies developing replacements. And that involves getting others ready to successfully take on your work. The first step in developing others is recognizing its importance.