What If We Hired and Fired Our Bosses?

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What It’s About: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what UNBOSSING means, and why organizations like Novartis are investing so much in the idea. (Note: I speak to it in my Oct. 4 Lead In podcast). What does UNBOSSING mean to you?

Dr. Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, in referencing their journey to UNBOSS stated, "We've moved to a world of knowledge workers. We can't manage those workers like cogs in a factory… The source of power for a leader is your ability to create opportunities for the people around you… .People have to follow you because they believe in your ideas and your values. If the reason you want to do something is to please the hierarchy (you risk losing that)."

So What?: We all have much to learn about how much of a fundamental mind shift this is. As Dr. Narasimhan says, “the most powerful thing we have that can improve the world is leadership… The most precious resource we have is leadership. The reason society has been able to make so many extraordinary gains over the last century is leadership.”

What if we all invested in leadership as a precious resource? What might we do differently?

Now What?: What if leaders were hired under contract by their teams? What if I was evaluated by how effective I was in my leadership, and my team renewed my contract and managed my compensation? What if they assessed me on the following criteria as an example:

Did I help the team individually and collectively connect and contribute to purpose?

How well did I help get rid of obstacles and roadblocks?

How well did I coach? How much did help the team learn individually and collectively?

How effective were we in achieving meaningful and sustainable results?

How much did I help each team member be able to do their best work?

Was I able to help the team have the right conversations at the right time?

Was I respectfully courageous?

Other?

If I did well, the team renewed my contract. If not, they could choose another leader. Hmm, I just can’t help but wonder what might happen if we unboseed by democratizing leadership selection and succession?

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: I love great (not perfect) leadership. It’s essential. If we’re stepping away from traditional command and control bosses, then it would be awesome if leadership actions and contributions could be undeniable in the practices mentioned above.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis.

What If We Hired and Fired Our Bosses?

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