Why a Good Leader Should Be Replaceable

Not everybody’s good at receiving feedback. And what is the best piece of feedback you have ever received?

In terms of receiving feedback, take a deep breath. Especially if it’s negative, listen very intently, because again, your mind’s got to be open, okay? So, you’ve got to be super open to the feedback. And for me, again, having this mindset of, “This is going to make me better, I want to know.”
So, I’m going to listen to you very carefully, and I’m going to try to take in… Some parts of the feedback could be not true, that’s been the other part. I’ve given feedback to folks where they’re like, hey, that didn’t happen. So, really try to distinguish what’s true and where the real feedback is, because the setup of the feedback, the environment, the way things turned out may not be what you remember, but there’s something, some nugget in there.
They may not be reality. Here’s the perception, here’s the reality, how are you going to overcome that? So, for me, I have to do the same, I’ve got to think to myself, I don’t want to come across defensive, there’s something in there, and I’m just going to try to take it and figure out a way to utilize it to change the way I’m going to behave moving forward, right?
So, the toughest piece of feedback I’ve ever been given is from my team, and maybe it’s around, I think it is around developing them. Am I developing the team enough? Am I making sure that I am delegating, that I am letting them grow, that I’m not constantly stepping in to solve their problems, but I’m allowing them to make the mistakes and solve the problem themselves.
So, really stepping back, and letting them have the discussions with the stakeholder, letting them have the discussion with the CEO, and just making sure that I trust them enough to get the issue resolved. And if they don’t get the issue resolved, then they can come to me, and then we could figure out a way to move forward.
But again, it’s going back to letting them grow into the role, and me stepping back and not doing the things that I would normally do. But for me, again, this goes back to really good succession planning. How do I ensure that I am really building up a team where I am completely replaceable? That is my goal, I have to do that.

I think I’ve always heard you say that you believe in hiring people who are smarter than you.

Absolutely, absolutely. They have got… Like I said, the goal for me as a really good leader is to make myself replaceable. I truly believe that, I’m just going to say this, they could replace me tomorrow, and that would be fine. The company would be fine, there’s a well-oiled machine in place, and the team could take over if I got hit by a bus, or I won the lottery, whatever. But…

Let’s hope you win the lottery, and not get hit by a bus.