Mark Miller - Leaders Made Here : Building a Leadership Culture

LEADERS
MADE
HERE

Other books by the author:

Chess Not Checkers

The Heart of Leadership

The Secret of Teams

The Secret with Ken Blanchard

Great Leaders Grow with Ken Blanchard

Related Field Guides:

The Secret with Randy Gravitt

Chess Not Checkers with Randy Gravitt

The Heart of Leadership

The Secret of Teams

BUILDING A LEADERSHIP CULTURE

MARK MILLER

Bestselling author of Chess Not Checkers and The Heart of Leadership

Leaders Made Here

Copyright 2017 by CFA Properties, Inc.

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First Edition

Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-62656-981-2
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-982-9
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-983-6

2017-1

Production Management: Michael Bass Associates

Cover Design: The Book Designers

This book is dedicated to my wife, Donna.

Her patience with me is unfathomable and

her contributions to my life are incalculable.

I love you!

Introduction

Leadership is the cornerstone of all great organizations.

Yes, before you think it, I do understand that more is required than outstanding leadership to build an enduring organization. After a five-year research effort, our team found High Performance Organizations actually have four things in common. They all Bet on Leadership, Act as One, Win the Heart, and Excel at Execution. I wrote about these moves in my previous book, Chess Not Checkers.

However, the journey to high performance always begins with leadership. This book is a deep dive on one critical question every organization faces:

The answer, in short: Build a leadership culture.

Lets be clear on terms from the beginning. A leadership culture exists when leaders are routinely and systematically developed, and you have a surplus of leaders ready for the next opportunity or challenge.

Imagine what would happen if organizations were proactive and strategic and built their own leadership pipeline and filled their bench with capable, ready-now leaders? What if companies and nonprofits created a culture in which exceptional leadership at all levels was the norm?

Even as I write this, I am well aware of the resistance to this idea of building a leadership culture. Here are some of the more common objections....

You may be right: you are doing finefor now. However, even in organizations currently enjoying success, this is often due to the efforts of a few good women and men who shoulder the burden for their entire organization. Their heroic acts are required again and again to win the day. Not only does this approach fail to leverage the full capacity of your people, but sustained greatness is unlikely.

If you fall victim to this myth, your organization is probably not going to make the investments needed to grow leaders at all levels. You will just wait for the next leader to walk through the door. In essence, you are waiting for Superman or Superwoman to miraculously appear and save your company. This is a dubious strategy for future success.

If your organization is like most, you probably do not have enough capable leaders in place today. And, if you have a shortage of leaders, the ones you do have are often pedaling hard just trying to keep up. They certainly arent thinking about developing future leaders. Therefore, a leadership shortfall today is often the preamble to a shortage of future leaders. If you do not break this cycle, it may ultimately break you.

This is the best form of resistance! Although I will work to address all the objections outlined above, Leaders Made Here was written primarily for this final groupthose who can see the value in a strong bench of capable leaders but just lack the strategic framework to make it so. This book is really for you.

Ultimately, your future success depends on the quantity and quality of leaders on your team. Follow the path outlined in the following pages, and you will position your organization among the elite. You will create a place where leadership excellence is not a dream but rather a by-product of a sound strategy executed with diligence.

The future begins today. Lets get started!

Human Error

The sound was deafening and the confusion was debilitating. Blake was struggling to pick himself up off the floor and wondering what had just happened. The only light streamed in through a small window near the ceiling as the sun crawled over the horizon.

As Blake strained to scan the room, he could see others getting up. They were all covered in dust and debris. His ears were still ringing from the explosion.

Just a moment before, he was beginning his first meeting with his leadership team as the new CEO and then, this....

Is everyone okay? Blake yelled.

Im okay, came a voice though the shadows.

Me, too, said another.