Leadership Loss

Ever wondered why the departure of a company founder or leader could be a major setback for a business?

Well, good leaders usually have a deep understanding of the big picture. It also helps if they happen to be charismatic and have the ability to rally people behind a common mission. Most importantly, they understand how to move levers and when to pull the right triggers.

Recently, the image of business leaders has been tarnished by numerous incidents of power abuse, greed and other unethical behaviors. Even in a bad job market, employees are less willing to take on big leadership roles that would expose them to tough decision-making thus risking their careers. The shortage of good leaders could also be traced back to our education system that has been encouraging students to become experts in specific fields. This is creating silos in Corporate America. It is moving resources away from leadership roles and into narrow expertise niches.

Good leaders can see through silos and link them together to get a harmonious organization. When these leaders leave, people continue working in their silos, communication breaks down and the dynamics of finger-pointing thrive. Solutions are not sought until the bottom-line starts suffering, which usually happens late in the game. The following scenario could take place: Communication between silos breaks down and knowledge is no longer shared. A couple of months later, the turnaround time and quality of products or services suffer. Clients start noticing the company’s sloppy work and two months later, they do not place a new order which in turn impacts the company’s bottom-line. The business just lost over six months in the process and it might take another six months to fix the issue?

That is what usually transpires from the departure of a leader. To prevent these issues, your company will need to get the help of internal or external experts to build a cause-effect strategic map with leading key performance metrics to help you be proactive. Notice that I just used bastardized buzzwords such as “Key Performance Metrics” and “Proactive”. Many so-called consultants and IT developers diluted the real meaning of these terms by bringing preconceived solutions to the table. So beware of this pitfall and make sure you recruit the help of true business experts that can approach solutions from a business perspective. Setting up leading indicators is more art than science.