Executive leaders need to be focused on the future value of the firm as a first priority. Future value ultimately defines the executive leader’s legacy and is the location of their accountability.
3 Steps to Becoming a Selfless Leader
I was privileged to contribute a chapter to the book "The Selfless Leader," available at no cost here. Rather than toot my horn as one of the contributors, I'd rather point you to the words of the editor, Scott Rodin of the Steward's Journey, who blogs here.
"Perhaps the best way I can try to define a Selfless Leader is to contrast it with its opposite. Could we say that the converse of a self-less leader is a self-more leader? Put another way, does becoming a selfless leader require us to set aside our desires to want more of our self as the focus of our leadership?
The Focused CEO
A revolution in what previously had been a largely organized and focused life was to take the 4 Disciplines of Execution Seriously. It played out in two ways:
Enterprise. Business planning and strategy has 1-2 action steps tied to annual strategies in any quarter. Never more. And, no person has ownership for more than two such actions. It is ok for them to have just one.
Personally. Each day I list 1-2 key items that are the musts for me to accomplish.
Why It Is Harder To Run A Business Than It Is To Launch
Many folks who get started in some sort of associational arrangement, be it a franchise, a business partnership, chartering a club with a national organization, establishing a congregation connected to a denomination, or simply licensing some intellectual property, do so thinking that pooling resources makes sense. It somehow feels less expensive or time-consuming, else they wouldn’t do it.
