Game-changers

I was reading a post today that spoke about how successful companies are getting back to the old fashioned way of thinking that, no matter what widget you make, buy or sell, your company is only as strong as the people who are working towards its success. This is true, I think, but the ambiguity as to what is a strong or valuable front line employee, manager, executive, etc., is where the real failure gap lies.

I know lots of people. I know many successful people. I know a bunch of great leaders who, in turn, are great people. But I only know a handful of extraordinary people, because extraordinary people have the ability to be dynamic -- they can be, quite literally, whatever they need to be. And that is why they are valuable; they change the game entirely.

Quite often I see folks in a leader's chair but they're playing a follower's game. They're there to make someone happy, they're the push-over, they're a bully, they're only smart and not innovative, they make rules instead of listening to ideas, and they're able to be characterized by one word. The valuable person that is changing the game, the one who really matters in today's changing industries is able to play all of those roles -- he doesn't piss off everyone all the time and certainly doesn't make everyone happy all the time, because he knows that neither of those will bring success. The human being who relates to his employees, goes home to a family and understands the importance of it, leads by example with kindness and knows how to adapt to situations in a way that motivates every person in the meeting -- that is the extraordinary person who is pertinent in successful companies, the one who is more important than ever in today's world.