Succession Planning

Opening kickoff for the NCAA football National Championship game. It doesn't get any more exciting than that. And for my daughter and I (and 94,000+ of our closest friends) it was time to get it on. The pre-game festivities, the talking heads, and the hype were all finished. It was time to play the game. #1 Alabama versus #2 Texas for all the marbles!

Who knew that 5 offensive plays into the game, the depth of Texas would be tested at the most critical position? Yes, after 5 plays Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history, was done. Bring in the backup -- an 18 year old with almost no meaningful game experience. It would be his job to snap on his chin strap and try to lead his team to victory.

Let's talk leadership here, can we?

It was clear that this young man was not prepared for the situation he was in, on that night, on that stage. He was not familiar with the game plan. He had not been given enough repetitions to be able to step in and lead his team. He was not ready for the speed of the game nor the decisions he would have to make along the way. (Mind you, I don't think any backup freshman quarterback with limited game experience would truly be ready to step up in that situation.)

It certainly got me thinking about how well prepared my team is to lose a key leader. Similarly, I am not sure I have done all I need to do to set them up for success in my absence. Do we have depth in critical positions? Could the second-teamers step in and would they be able to maintain momentum and accomplish the mission?

Succession planning is hard! Here are 4 things to think about regarding preparing back-ups for success:

1. Backups need exposure to the game plan. Do we include 2nd and 3rd tier leaders when we establish strategic plans and set goals...or just the "inner circle" leadership team? The more we can expose others to the sessions in which we establish our plans and strategies, the more likely they will be comfortable with executing them should they be thrust into leadership roles. Things like vision, strategies, goals and objectives must be shared with the entire team so that everyone is prepared to step up when called.

2. Backups need game experience. Are we empowering our 2nd and 3rd tier team members to truly be leaders when they are in leadership position or do we just ask them to hold down the fort? Do we give people the chance to truly be in charge when we go on vacation or are out of the office or do they just keep the seat warm? Do we provide true, meaningful leadership opportunities to lower-level team members such that they can establish "muscle density" on things like calling plays (communicating orders and instructions), reading defenses (decision making under pressure), and scoring touchdowns (accomplishing the mission).

3. Simulations and contingency plans must address the loss of key leaders. Most of our "what if" drills involve things like the loss of a key customer, the failure of an important system or piece of equipment, or the interruption in the supply chain. But "what if" we lose a key leader? Are we prepared? Have we practiced under those conditions? Have we established contingency plans so that we can quickly integrate new leaders without losing momentum? Are we prepared to adjust the game plan to be able to operate under the new conditions and still accomplish the mission?

4. We need depth at every position. As leaders, we really do need to look at whether we have single points of failure within our organization. Perhaps we need to start by examining whether our teams are ready to win -- without US! Are we grooming successors and are they ready to step in right away? Similarly, do we have depth at other key positions? A team can be just as challenged with the loss of a lineman or a linebacker as with the loss of the quarterback. Succession planning needs to look across the team and ensure that the team is built to last.

It was a great game. While my team lost, my daughter and I had a blast. We both lost our voices cheering on that freshman quarterback. He did okay, getting better and gaining confidence with each snap of the ball. Who knows how prepared he was for the stage on which he was thrust? I doubt many of us could have pulled off what he did that night, almost leading his team to victory. It certainly highlighted the awesome responsibility we have as leaders to ensure our team has the depth to continue the mission -- no matter who is in charge. That's winning football. And that's -- Leader Business!

Bo Knows Leadership 2

I wrote previously about how Bo (Schembechler) Knows Leadership after reading some of the leadership lessons on Michael McKinney's Leading Blog. Now I've read the book -- and wanted to pass along some more leadership gems from this "throw back" leader!

John Bacon teams with Bo to write Bo's Lasting Lessons. It details the football career of Bo Schembechler, Michigan's coach from 1969-1989. As a military leader, I appreciated Bo's approach to people-centric, disciplined, focused leadership. The man cared deeply about every member of his team, understood that character counted, and was committed to winning as a TEAM. Here are just a few of the gems in the book:

-- On the importance of mentors: When you're starting out, it's better to make peanuts for a great leader than it is to get some big salary from a mediocre one.

-- On seeking opportunities for advancement: For God's sakes, quit worrying about your next job. Just do the best you can at the job you have now, and the offers will come. Wait for the right opportunity, and turn down all the rest. It will make all the difference.

-- Famous Michigan football motto: THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS.

-- On taking over as a new leader: One of the most common mistakes new leaders make...is to ignore the history of the organization they just took over, or even to disrespect it. When you become the leader, do not start your reign by dismantling or ignoring the contributions of those who came before.

-- On the importance of giving everyone a meaningful role on the team: Ultimately it makes no difference what (minor role players) accomplish. They're all on your team, and whatever your team achieves, every one of them must feel like this is my team, and we did this together. Because you did!

-- On people: You can NOT be a leader unless you like people! You've got to spend time with them, so you know them. You've got to be interested in who they are, what they do away from the job, and how they think. Your people have to know that their value to you and your organization is not determined just by what they do, but by who theyu are.

-- On mission-focus: I don't care what your business is -- whether you're running a company or a classroom or a Boy Scout troop: You need to find a way to instill game day urgency in everything you do.

-- On the basics: Blocking and tackling! Blocking and tackling! Blocking and tackling! Every business has its blocking and tackling, and if you can't do those basics well then nothing else matters.

-- On teaching: Crunch time is not only what you're paid for, it's also one of your best opportunities to teach your people, because they're alert. When they're under pressure, that's when they learn best.

-- On decision making: And when you're facing a big decision and you don't have much time to make it, you've got to pull the trigger. Not making a decision is the worst thing you can do. So long as you feel you made the right decision based on the information you had at that time, there's no need to fret about it. If it fails, you'll know what to do next time.

No...football is not business. Football is not combat. But leadership is leadership. And after reading this book, and having seen Bo give a speech before he left us in November 2006, I am confident that Bo Know's Leadership! Hooah!

Bo Knows Leadership

Michael McKinney has a terrific blog that I read regularly, Leading Blog. Among other topics, he somehow is able to identify great books with leadership applications to all of us. I don't know quite how he gets through them all to find these insights, but it is worth adding to your Favorites.

In a recent post, Michael examines Bo's Lasting Lessons, by former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler. In it he details, among the many chapters of Bo's coaching adventure, the lessons of his tour of duty as an assistant under Ara Parseghian. I found several leadership gems that were worth sharing:

- Coach Parseghian, according to Schembechler, was "probably the most imaginative coach I’d ever seen, always adapting his plays to his players instead of the other way around like most coaches do." Sounds like Jim Collins' "first WHO" principle of getting the right people on the bus, then determining where to take it. Investments like this are what allow us to get the most out of our teammate's strengths.

- We can let failures define us or...we can use our setbacks as motivation to take us to the next level. In Schembechler's second year with Parseghian at Northwestern, they lost every game, 0-9. Bo's perspective: "I learned an awful lot from Ara in my first year at Northwestern, but I learned a heckuva lot more from him that second season, when he lost ‘em all. And what I learned was how a real leader leads when things aren’t going his way." We all go through these tough situations. How we deal with them will ultimately define our ability to lead.

- Ara had his staff's back. As a result, they were ready to do anything for him, even during that 0-9 season: "Ara treated the staff as though we were winning every game. He never gave the slightest inclination that we were the problem. He not once blamed any assistant or any player for any loss we suffered that year. NOT ONCE. “Stick with it, guys, and we’ll get through this,” he’d tell us. “We’re going to be okay.” We all kept busting our butts for Ara, working past midnight, doing everything we could to get that guy a victory." That has certainly been my own experience. If we listen to our subordinates, include them in decision making, empower and inspire them, they will usually reward us with their absolute best and with the sweat-equity and late nights that may be required to "turn a losing season around."

And that was enough to inspire at least one coach, Bo Schembechler, to become a great leader of his own. That ultimately is how we might measure the greatness of a leader - namely in the leaders that they produce, and in the leadership lessons that they transmit in their words and deeds, from coach to assistant to players. Ara produced Bo. And Bo, like his coach Ara Parseghian, produced champions. I've heard him speak...and Bo knows leadership!

That's Leader Business.