Leadership today is in crisis. In the 15 years since the turn of the millennia, we’ve seen the shelf life of leaders in organisations shorten from 5-7 years to now less than 3. CEO’s leave once they’ve hit their bonus targets. Political leaders rarely last more than one electoral cycle – if they’re lucky.
This revolving door at the top creates tremendous pressure on those who are most often left to carry the can – the senior leaders who aren’t part of the inner circle and those one to three levels below them.
These unsung, ordinary heroes don’t feature in the annual reports or hang out in the boardroom or the C-Suite. But they face the greatest challenge of all. Put simply, they’re the meat in the organisational sandwich. Tasked not only with understanding the latest corporate strategy (all too often a management fad), they need to motivate and lead the teams they lead to create results that impact the bottom line. They lead “through the middle”.
While the top floors get all the bouquets, it’s those that lead through the middle who in my book are the real champions (and who most often get the brickbats!). They “set up” the front office so the business has a heart. They “clean up” the factory so the product gets delivered in full and on time, with no faults or defects. And they “make up” the market so the targets get hit.
In the 25 years since I started my working career, I can count on less than one hand books written specifically to educate and equip this special breed of leader. Entrepreneurs, Infoprenuers (independent consultants) and Socialprenuers (not-for profit game changers) are increasingly well catered for. But the INTRAprenuer – the high-potential leader who lives their career within an organisation – is poorly served.
When it comes to developing as leaders, They are all to often stuck in a perfect storm of education options:
- The ivory tower of post-graduate study that’s disconnected from their real world (like the classic Masters of Business Assasination);
- The hit and miss external training provider (who’s often a contractor with no loyalty); or
- Their company specific programs. These are very effective at inducting them into the cargo cult of the corporation but don’t tap into their unique blend of talents.
In the early 90’s, Stephen Covey’s Principle-Centred Leadership (his lesser known follow up to the classic Seven Habits) was the first to focus on character and principles for the individual, team and organisation.
Then in 2005, John Maxwell’s best (IMHO) book The 360 Degree Leader planted a flag for those who lead in the middle, with his ten timeless principles.
Founder and Chair of Thought Leaders Global, Matt Church, kicked things up a gear in 2013 with his current classic, Amplifiers: The Power of Motivational Leadership to Inspire and Influence. He powerfully argues that all leaders need to get back to “…meeting, talking and inspiring the people around them.” While not intraprenuer specific, it’s worth the investment because its principles can be embraced by the Intrapreneur.
Michael Watkins master-work The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Smarter and Faster, was the first book to comprehensively tackle the challenge of career transition. Highly recommended and it’s saved my bacon more than once.
And in Standout 2.0, due to be published in August of this year (at the time of writing) Marcus Buckingham conclusively proves that there are no great organisations, but there are great TEAMS. Teams led by intrapreneurs – the hidden heroes.
My personal conviction is that the journey of the intraprenuer is a very special hero’s journey. It’s the chance to discover your super-powers and use them to be a leader worth following. It’s the opportunity to chief a tribe – sometimes small, sometimes quite large – that makes your part of the organisation something worth belonging to. And it’s the chance to transform your job from something that pays the bills to instead having work worth doing.
My premise is simple: it’s possible learn how to move from being someone who has great potential, to being the leader of a team of superheroes who guide others to peak performance.
My posts for the foreseeable future (well, the next 90 days at least) will focus on this topic.
First, I'll look at WHY it’s so important to know what drives the intraprenuer, and the problems and challenges doing that in today’s world of continuous disruption.
Second, I'll look at HOW to become a true intrapreneur. I'll take a deep dive into how you discover WHO your intrapreneurs really are – how to discover, develop and deploy their unique talents for bottom line commercial benefit.
Then I'll look closely at the big IF’s the Intraprenuer needs to face if they’re to become the game-changing leader they have the potential to become, and WHAT game plan they need to follow to play to win within the organisation.
My posts will be written with three very specific audiences in mind:
- For the ENTREPRENEUR. You may have the most fantastic, game changing business idea, but without a super-talented team of leaders working with you it will never become a sustainable success. Knowing how to take your high potential leaders and see them super-charged, fully engaged and highly productive is the key to your future.
- For the SENIOR LEADER OF LEADERS: When it comes to the meat in the sandwich, you’re the most important piece. You already have a team and they’re already leading others – often two or more levels of leaders within the business. The opportunity you have to create your very own Justice League of global super-heroes is incredible. This book will show you how by starting with you, you can create an unstoppable force for good within (and often beyond) your sphere of influence.
- For the CURRENT INTRAPRENEUER: You may already be a highly successful person in your career, or someone just starting your leadership journey. Whatever your position, you know that you’re capable of achieving so much more than you currently are, and you’re hungry to do so. Your challenge is to move from being just a rock star with some degree of talent to a super strong leader of leaders.
If that's something that interests you, I invite you to join me on a journey through the next 90 Days or so.