In my experience, it’s easier to hide bad leadership in a place that isn’t growing.
However, the larger an organization gets—the more growth that occurs—the more bad leadership becomes apparent.
As a leader for the last several decades, I’ve learned the times my leadership is stretched the most are the times we are growing—and changing—the fastest.
As an organization grows:
- People ask harder questions and challenge the process.
- More decisions have to be made.
- There never seems to be enough time.
- Better systems are needed.
- The people required to do the work increases.
- Leadership development becomes more important.
- Effective delegation and management is necessary.
- Resources are stretched.
- Commucication is often messy.
- Tensions are high.
I have even wondered if an organization can outgrow the capacity of a leader. (I certainly think it could outgrow me.)
Here’s the bottom line.
As the organization grows—as things get bigger—the leader must be equally growing.
This can be a sobering word for leaders. But, leadership is often a sobering reality. But, the leader must understand—continuing to grow an organization always requires a leader to continually grow.
Which leads me to close with an important question:
What is your personal leadership development plan?
This article originally appeared here.
