LEARNING FROM YOUNG LEADERS : Question 6

When I look at how the good-to-great CEOs became CEO, they did it by not focusing on their career. They focused on their unit of responsibility.

At every stage of their career, whatever they were running, whether it be a little accounting department or whether it be a manufacturing facility, controllership, they built their unit into a pocket of greatness. That is why they were tapped. Focus on your unit, not on your career. Every responsibility you get, make it a pocket of greatness. If you do that, you are more likely to die of indigestion from too much responsibility than starvation from too little. And focusing on your unit means above all being a First Who leader rather than a First What leader. And that the #1 executive skill for building a pocket of greatness of any size is figuring out who should be in the key seats on the bus, to be rigorous about your people decisions. And we’ve spoken about this before, but it also means not being ruthless. Be rigorous, not ruthless. That means taking care of your people. For in the end, life is people.