founder of naked leader
Make a list of the ten people…
Please add your comments at the bottom… many thanks.
Time to READ: 51secs
Time to LISTEN: 1min 43secs
Time to WATCH: 3mins 32secs
Make a list of the ten people…
You simply cannot do without in your organisation
Write down their names – if you are a massive company, do 20, if a smaller company do 5
Next, rank them in order of “If we lost that person we would be in very very deep trouble”
OK?
Now
Get rid of them
All of them
These are the people who have one goal in life – to be totally indispensable – so they hold onto knowledge (instead of sharing it), they do all the work themselves (no point in delegating – if you want a job done…) and think succession planning is a great idea in principle, but no-one else is “quite ready yet.”
Well, go on then…
Or, if that is a bit extreme, make sure that for each of these people:
1. They have a successor, or at least one other person who can do their role
2. Leads – and assess their leadership based on the results from their team members
3. Their number one priority over the next three months is to become absolutely, totally, 100% dispensable.
Then, and only, then, will you want to hold onto them forever
And, after three months, make a list of ten people…
With my love and best wishes
David
X
My boss is always holding onto information herself.
It’s that knowledge that earns her the extra £20,000 a year, she says, so why would she want to share it?
If she did pass on those trade secrets then anybody could do her job!
So she chooses to keep it within.
Thankfully the company has keyperson insurance otherwise when she finally dies we will be able to cover her no problem and get in someone that wants to, and is prepared to, work for the good of others.
That day can’t come soon enough.
Being dispensable does not make you feel that great within the company set up.
I think that’s a prime reason for holding on to what you know so that at least you can go to your employer in a round of redundancies and say ‘hey, I can do this, they can’t.’
You have to have that vital edge over your colleagues to get on if you are interested in a career.
I am all for business resilience and we should never have one single point of failure.
On the other hand, what do we have to do as employers to hang on to those that we want to hang onto? Who are the ones that we would be broken hearted if they told us they were going? Who are the ones that we think are brilliant, at any level, and that we would never want to lose? Have we told them that we love and care for them and why we think that they are the bees knees? If not, why not? What is the main first motivator to look for another job? It is because people do not FEEL valued and appreciated where they currently are.
AND for us as employees, what have we got to do to ensure that our bosses would want to fight to keep us, if we told them that we were less than happy or thinking of leaving?
I am putting together a sucession planning forum over the next month and I am shameless going to copy this as the opening exercise…… WOW !
thanks NL
Succession planning should be compulsory in every organisation, worked for a company previously that stated “unless you have a successor”, and they have a successor
, & so on then no promotions happen. Certainly focused the mind. I now work in an organisation that allows everyone to apply for almost every role advertised, cloggs up the system and every appointment takes months to come to fruition. Great opening statement as stated earlier in the feedback, will definately use it when get the opportunity. Thank NL good insight.
Succession planning is essential, I agree.
It’s old school not to want to pass on your knowledge.
Get it out there. Let the company enjoy it! Let you colleagues prosper because they know what you know.
Some people just know more and are better.
I agree with Tim Leonard.
There are those who are brilliant you would not want to lose.
received by email…
David
Your message of 1 minute 43seconds is excellent. I’m excited about what would result if everyone read and acted upon it…..
Diane x
received by email…
Hi David,
Good newsletter, that will get them thinking!
received by email… David phoned the sender…Out of interest for others what did you say to the below question David?
Hello,
I just wanted to let you know that your email address always is chucked into the spam. Did you really think the name of your company through properly?
I called the sender who didn’t know the origin of the company name, I thanked her for her email and shared the daily challenges of the word “naked” (online / email) however it does describe what we stand for – be successful, by simply being you. David
Love that, Naked chucked into spam.
It’s a great name for a company and very well thought out. regardless of the odd email.
Naked in any sense of the word provokes interest and intrigue.
Love the company name, stripped back to the bare essentials of business.
It’s eye-catching.
Email received today from CFO who wishes to remain anonymous – “Sometimes David you scare me” David