Eileen Dooley is a talent development and leadership specialist and leadership coach based in Calgary, Alberta.
“Drive Me, Follow Me, or Get Out of My Way,” is a famous quote from impatient and hard-working American General George S. Patton, most recently used by contemporary business leaders. with Ted Turner.
Clearly, this is not advising a leader to sit still, take care of himself, and cause a traffic jam, such as what is happening right now in Alberta with Prime Minister Jason Kenney. He recently put his leadership mandate to a vote by party members after months of divisive internal detractors over his history with COVID-19 and other political issues.
He did not set the bar very high, stating that 50 percent, plus one, was an adequate figure for him to continue as a leader, because he met the constitutional threshold. In the end, he got a little over 51 percent, and immediately announced that he would resign, saying that the result was not what he expected and that he did not give him the mandate to lead the next election.
At first, it seemed like he was going to do the obvious thing others have done in a similar place of mistrust in his leadership: step away, appoint an interim leader, and pave the way for a new leadership to take the helm.
But no. That wouldn’t be much fun. Days later, he announced that he would remain as prime minister for an indefinite period of time, such as when the party finally elects a new leader. All of this adds up to the equivalent of an old, tired country bus parked in the lane of Alberta politics.
This is likely to be the core of “what not to do” leadership case studies over the next few years. Some say it is an act of despair. To me, it’s an act of power, ego, and the general right of a particular brand of leadership – one that expects others to follow without a doubt.
Sound familiar?
There aren’t many equivalents in the corporate world, unless you want to make the current situation look like a derivation made in Alberta of the agitation of family leadership portrayed in the hit TV series. Succession. In most companies, the interim leadership succession plan would have been on the table by the time the former CEO stepped off the podium to say goodbye. This only makes sense when the requirement of trust in leadership at any level is under such important public scrutiny and is especially important for public companies trying to maintain the crucial trust of shareholders.
It is surprising that Mr. Kenney remains in office without a mandate to lead any particular leadership. Remember that as prime minister, he must not only provide political leadership to more than four million Albanians, but also directional leadership for the province’s more than 25,000 public employees (up to 95,000 if you count all union members in the province). public sector). Not to mention the nominal leadership of a government with revenues of about $ 30 billion a year and an economy with a GDP of more than $ 323 billion last year.
A leader who has lost his or her leadership role should step aside immediately. Point.
When ego and law take over, we see leaders who still believe that no one else can do such a good job leading in their place. They do not trust others to inherit their mantle and have clearly not accepted the results of those in a legitimate position to assess their leadership. They think they know better and reject even the best of advice (everything seems familiar to them Succession fans?).
They want to do things their way and listen to a few others, which is probably how they put themselves in the position of losing confidence to begin with.
Being a leader, a respected leader, means falling on your sword when it suits you. It means making decisions that you disagree with, but that are in the best interests of the organization and those who work with them. It also means admitting that you are not the right leader for the time, despite the success you have had in the past, and really believing it.
If you can’t lead and you don’t have the ability to keep going, the only option you have left is to get out of the way.
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