Have you ever seen a bad leader? I dare say that you have not. You are either a leader or you are not, there are no bad leaders. If you are not a leader, then you are a placeholder; keeping the seat warm until the next leader shows up. Without leaders, and leaders at every level, organizations will inevitably fail. A leader guides an organization to growth and innovation; without these, organizations stagnate, fall behind competitors, cease to provide value, and wither into obscurity. An organization could be packed with some of the most brilliant minds only to falter sans leadership to cohesively harness that intellect to perform at a higher level collectively and not as a collection of individuals. Placeholders are not irredeemable, just difficult - lacking in awareness and leadership training. Somehow though, placeholders get their place, how does this happen? And, what can be done?
"Leaders do not only bring value, they have values."
Perhaps your placeholder arrived because the organization has lost its sense of what true leadership is or, maybe it never knew. If this is the case, the organization has really lost its moral compass. Leaders do not only bring value, they have values. They value their people – leaders take care of their people, which ultimately contributes to taking care of the organization; they do not step on their people to attain greater personal heights. Leaders value courage, and true courage, not virtue signaling; like coming forward to provide an honest, timely, necessary, and yet uncomfortable assessment or truth. They value preparedness, which involves planning, and so on. Being in an organization that has lost its sense of true leadership is difficult to reconcile and would require something that Special Forces does well, bringing about regime change. This is not to say go burn the place down, rather, a more refined approach is warranted, a campaign for re-imagining how the organization sees itself. This, I assess, would involve a concerted grassroots effort of leading by example coupled with external support that injects itself at the C-suite and mid-level manager levels. The intent of the external support would be to provide insight as to how one better engages their colleagues supported by learning how to plan and subsequently implementing an effective leadership development strategy.
Similarly, I argue that organizations upholding a managerial culture are also off the mark; don’t cling to the title on the door. Manager is a position title, not who or what you are - a leader should occupy a manager’s position. Those who are solely managers tend to worry about self and appeal to a “check the box” culture to maintain the status quo. Leaders, on the other hand, concern themselves with mission first, then people, followed by self all the while seeking out innovation to take the organization to the next level.
"Organizations must have a long-term investment plan for employees’ professional development with a keen focus on leadership."
I subscribe to the idea that more routinely, placeholders fall victim to the Peter Principle[1], where one rises to their own level of incompetence. Likely, you’ve heard of someone or something “petering out,” well, unfortunately that cannot be attributed to Peter J. Laurence’s principle that people’s potential naturally shrinks as they rise through the ranks, but it certainly lends itself to it. It could also be used to describe the situation where someone has been promoted to a job in which they lack the necessary skill. An organization worth its salt recruits its people because they have the attributes necessary to succeed, typically paired with the idea that they can develop professionally by acquiring the necessary skills along the way. To prevent employees suffering from a skill deficit, however, an organization must go beyond an initial investment in their employees. Organizations must have a long-term investment plan for employees’ professional development with a keen focus on leadership. This means a structured approach to employee development, preparing them prior to attaining their next level of performance and avoiding on the job training (OJT). What better way to ensure an organization’s future than to have a professional development program, a dedicated arena for growth, where a vision can be planted and you create the next generation of leaders to carry out that vision. Granted, not all organizations have the bandwidth for such in-house endeavors, though, planning and budgeting for professional development and creating the opportunity for employees to prepare for the next step in their career is a must.
To prevent becoming a placeholder on the individual level, prepare for the rise in rank. Seek out a mentor and learn what it means to be a leader early. Take control of your calendar. Block off time for reflection, evaluation, engagement, and self. Dedicate time for planning and providing guidance. Be disciplined about setting deadlines; this significantly contributes to generating a sense of urgency among team members. Then, look around to find others that are doing the same; that is where you want to be – where leaders not only give a shit, but know how to give a shit.
Ultimately, placeholders come from poor and toxic work environments that don’t provide effective guidance and training. When starting out, seek out organizations that are willing to invest in you. There is more value in building leadership skills and competencies early than in earning the largest paycheck; accumulating and mastering these skills will bolster the pay stub several fold later.
[1] Peter, Laurence, J. and Hull, Raymond. The Peter Principle. HaperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2009.