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Visions of Leadership

Visions of Leadership

Right about now, you've made the discovery that if you intend to push your company beyond its current plateau, you will have to change the way you relate to your work. You have doubtlessly concluded this next level mandates you to let go of things like hiring, product design, perhaps even day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past - and focus yourself on your role as CEO.

There are three stages to making the transition from chief cook and bottle washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business).

They are:

Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role.
Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job.
Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable.

My last article, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one. This article will examine transition two - recognizing your position as leader and owning the job. Next month I will cover the third transition, Giving it all away.

As CEO of your company - you are no longer the "head of everything". It is up to you to provide leadership. That's the job. No ifs, ands, or buts. The sooner you recognize it the better. Being the leader entails certain responsibilities which cannot, under any circumstances, be delegated.

By the way, much has been written about the qualities of leadership. But leadership is not about qualities, such as "strength of character" or "integrity". While those things are useful, if you aren't already imbued with "a winning personality", it can take half a lifetime to develop one.

The core responsibilities of corporate leadership - which you cannot delegate - include:

Owning the vision and the strategy to realize the vision;
Communicating the vision to insiders and outsiders;
Enabling others to act to realize the vision;
Developing new leaders.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b33027_ratings_surge_mccain-obama_ii.htmlcid=1256327592ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNFiG1jCKbNuCrE5BXX4jKezm3WdTgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=FKZ2T-Lb8lcJimgurl=images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20081008/425.obama.mccain.100808.jpg width=80 height=59 alt= border=1brfont size=-2E! Online/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/letters/story/635351.htmlcid=1256327592ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNEgwj5tP5jgWiPTc7g9t-nMDRE5ZQObama fails to show bleadership/b when needed/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fHilton Head Island Packet,nbsp;SCnbsp;-/font nobr33 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In the game of politics, one-up-manship is everything. Sen. John McCain just upped Sen. Barack Obama but good. Obama#39;s first gaffe, of course, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20081010/ARTICLES/810101026%3FTitle%3DNew_leadership_for_a_large_congregationcid=1256327592ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNExlnPCx058H9yk2uD5T_V7bPObEQNew bleadership/b for a large congregation/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBlueRidgeNow.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/10/11/mccain_ad_deplores_obamas_ties_to_ayerscid=1256327592ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNEit_anwbLOfRGO8zkveWWER0VyPAMcCain ad deplores Obama#39;s ties to Ayers/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBoston Globe/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/10/oprah_winfrey_michelle_obama_j.htmlcid=1256327592ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNHC4iC3Bnea5-f9JK56rr8sUJZkBgOprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama Joe and Jill Biden at Obama fund b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrChicago Sun-Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256327592hl=ennobrall 1,435 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2008/oct/11/johnsons-leadership-already-proven/cid=1256328854ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNEoARrcmCKZcyc7h1oyvQA62uqzrgJohnson’s bleadership/b already proven/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSuffolk News-Herald,nbsp;VAnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b and Linda Johnson is the only candidate who has the experience, who has provided bleadership/b, who understands the problems that come with running a city b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2008/oct/10/hard-work-should-earn-another-term/cid=1256328854ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNFHMD6kcw_IT5GX9Armb7g6QOhzJQHard work should earn another term/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSuffolk News-Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2008/oct/10/fiscal-crisis-calls-strong-experience/cid=1256328854ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNFiwNPsAvHnzKmmtXpGWnITc3vljgFiscal crisis calls for strong experience/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSuffolk News-Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256328854hl=ennobrall 5 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story%3Fid%3D5994703%26page%3D1cid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNF6hyaSE4bgV7mSBzwR0EmGx3HHnQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=A9Cdr06ye8oJimgurl=a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ap_mccain_3_081009_mn.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2ABC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/pakistan/countries/united-states-america/obama-offers-leadership-on-financial-woes-%241244305.htmcid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNHhL0sy20xd38flv2QGsoS4MyQMqQObama offers bleadership/b on financial woes/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fInTheNews.co.uk,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Full Story Barack Obama has offered what he says is the quot;real bleadership/bquot; needed in Washington to guide the United States through its financial crisis. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEgKYQD-siqEcid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNEmHQ-2rKtH72x7YhxLHepaqVO48QVideo: McCain Links Obama To Ayers/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCBS/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/EgKYQD-siqE/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/EgKYQD-siqEtype=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/09/the_lasting_consequences_of_ch.html%3Ftid%3Dinformboxcid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNGPYT4oV9wL-mq8Sk3EZmmMZsqb-AThe Lasting Consequences of Character Attacks/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20081009T000000-0500_141115_OBS_LEADERS__PRETENDERS_AND_THE_MOO_OF_THE_HERD.aspcid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNFo7R4QQBCb2z-uBLRQcd16ZFc6IgLeaders, pretenders and the moo of the herd/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrJamaica Observer/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTfaEcM64TkR8950ytvKQ-vchXgwcid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNEt7rlDk6INF8jqEnGFG6ZgP2M3HgnobrAFP/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/05/obama-ad-calls-mccain-erratic-bailout-work/cid=1254438696ei=qn_xSIrVGKiY6AOP7Y2-Awusg=AFQjCNHQ5Gyz2Bx0-B0RKvaUxI3TyCx70wnobrFOXNews/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254438696hl=ennobrall 5,037 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

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