Chris Hooley’s -ThinkBait-

A wise man once turned me on to the theory that all movies ever created can be categorized into 7 different plot types. This got me to thinking… perhaps there is some taxonomy that can be applied to every decision related to business, and maybe even life.

Suits and schmoozers listen up, this is for you. Corporate America, pay attention. Here are your instructions for the rest of your climb up the ladder…

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.

Simple.  But it isn’t always just black and white. No true leader can only lead. True, a leader must have the courage to hold the torch. But it’s more than that. A good leader must be smart enough to follow, and humble enough to get out of the way when it makes sense.

Just ask yourself, are your business decisions are based on fear instead of opportunity? Get out of the way. Do you fancy yourself a good leader, but you are losing ground? Follow. Got something burning inside? Lead.

People like to be led. People like to lead. People don’t like to be led by people who can’t lead, and people don’t like to lead people who can’t be led. Seems simple enough, right?

If you’re a true leader, lead me in the right direction and I’ll be right there following.  If you are a follower, come follow me and I’ll push you as far as I can.  If you are neither, just get out of the way and watch trails blaze.

YOU want to plant the flag? Want to be a rockstar at your job? Want to climb the ladder? There’s a ton of ways to make it happen, but there may be only one way that best fits you. You will not get an exact blueprint to any of them.

Here’s some verbal diarrhea, which is expanded on for your reading pleasure.  (I called this verbal diarrreah because they are pieces of advice, sayings, or new phrases I have pumped out at random this week.  I thought they could be summed up to make a nice list.) Below are some general principals that can be applied to YOUR path that may help get you where you long to be.

• It Starts with Smarts and Ends with Heart - Surrounding yourself with smart people is the obvious; surrounding yourself with people who want it so bad it hurts results in amazing accomplishments and personal successes around you more frequently than you may think.
• You Can’t Polish a Turd - Hire well, never short sell. If you only look for “worker bees“, you’ll always be a manager and never an executive. Never hire somebody to be a permanent pawn. If you hired them, their successes are yours. Let them succeed, even if it means giving up a piece of your pie for now. It will pay off.
• New People are a Blank Canvas, BE AN ARTIST - Hiring wiley old veterans sometimes has upsides, but molding eager new people can yield more powerful results. You get to build exactly what you need in a person, give them exactly what they need to succeed under you, and you might even look like a champ to the higher ups.
• Just Because Somebody did X, Y, and Z DOESN’T Mean YOU Can’t Use the Other 23 Letters - Saw somebody succeed and want the same thing? You don’t necessarily need to do the same things to get there. Use your best skills, the the next guy’s.
• You Get What you Pay For, but You’ll Pay for What You Pay - Finding talent can be easy if you cough up the big bucks. Developing talent is easy if you hire “heartists“. Frequent raises and bonuses are cheaper in the long run than repeatedly hiring and losing talent, or having to buy fully developed professionals. It also gives people a reason to stick around and try harder. As your new talent develops, pay them for it. People are the best investment you can make.

Being a leader means you need to develop leaders [loop] who develop leaders [/loop]. Eventually things will be getting done and you’ll have more time on your hands…

This should only worry those who are afraid of stepping up. If you can man up and allow your leaders to succeed and to own their jobs, you are well on your way to being a top executive. Don’t let your fear stop you if that’s what you really want, because your fear is the only thing that can stop you once you learn to guide the fires.