It's the most common thing: new or under-developed managers putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong thing at the wrong time. Instead of collecting the right people and forging the best coalitions within your staff and keeping it all percolating; all too often, we see the effect of poor decisions and bad designs. Companies don't compete, people do.

 

In the back of your car's operating manual there exists a short-cut chart showing how to set your navigation. Here's our version for a more effective result when navigating people and their roles.

 

Back the right players:
Knowing whom to rely on for performance under adverse conditions is the Holy Grail. We've always looked for people who possess "the crisis to perform," seen through behavior clues in good times and adversity. This is not an automatic observation. Look beyond the surface.

 

Don't be afraid to "stick your neck out":
General Norman Schwarzkopf took dozens of calculated risks throughout his career. The key word is calculated. From showing his belief in the South Vietnamese Army, to endorsing the military stratagem of Gulf War I, the general was never afraid to back a dark horse or take a chance in advocating a solution, popular or not. His brio caused some conflict along the way, but Stormin' Norman was never risk-averse. Instead, he was risk seeking when there was much to gain.
 
To consolidate power in your organization, put the right people in the right places:
If you make core personnel decisions based on what others think about a person, you're already in trouble. Your position as a leader requires you to be the chief people collector and then, the chief people developer. 50 percent of leadership is role discernment, then, keeping those people moving. If you have strong instincts about someone's ability to perform at an exceptional level, follow your instincts, never their scale of apparent popularity since no balance sheet contains datum addressing "popularity-per-share."

 

Never insist on having "total control":
If only many radio executives understood that the best way to gain true power is to demonstrate your willingness to disperse it among capable people. Had Lincoln insisted on running his generals, the Civil War would likely have been lost. In contrast, most WWII scholars, including German generals, agreed the war was really lost when Adolf Hitler seized control as supreme commander. Instead of relying on his exceptional general staff, he was compelled to run the show, which history records cost the Wermacht a million troops at Stalingrad.
 
Contrary to what we might wish to believe, we're judged every day on what we think, how we act, and whom we select as key allies in our structure. This is not a "political" disposition but, instead, one of effectiveness in our daily, unglamorous grinding toward the top. Without discernment for the best possible strategic alliances in or outside company fences, you may never ascend from efficiency to effectiveness.