This week’s Perspective is shared by Dr. Mike Comer, President of The Hayes Group International. Mike has personally worked with over 115 companies in 18 countries as an executive coach, team facilitator and leadership trainer. I’ve watched him work. Impressive. I was with Mike and Mary a few days ago in California at an Assist International board of directors meeting where we have served for years as volunteers. The Comers make their home in North Carolina.

 

Quit While You’re Ahead!? (said no one ever)

 

MY MOTHER INFORMED

me this week that she is no longer teaching a class at her church, one she has taught for 50 years. FIFTY years! She was not giving up, but moving on to new things. She is excited. Her replacement, a 35-year old father of two, is excited. And the class is excited.

 

Most of us are not told to quit, and leaders aren’t naturally programed that way. Although the small voice in our brain may say, “Quit while you’re ahead,” at a Las Vegas blackjack table, most of us will ignore it! No success coach is saying, “You should probably quit.” Motivational speakers are not chanting the mantra, “Quit! Quit! Quit!”

 

Great leaders know when to step back.

Knowing when to step back or when to move on is a trait of successful leaders. “Quit” does not mean give up and do nothing. It means let’s redirect our energies.  

 

STEPPING BACK ALLOWS YOU TO

Mentor, coach, teach, train, write and volunteer. More than 20 years ago I met Bob Buford at Harvard University. He was there talking about his book, “Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance.” His premise is—the last part of your career can be even more impactful if you focus your success, expertise, experience, and time on teaching others, perhaps in a volunteer, versus corporate role.

 

Keep your reputation in place. Most leaders have worked hard to establish a level of credibility in the workplace and their reputation precedes them. For years I have taught executive level presentation skills to upcoming managers. I often talk about the presentation in two ways: “Start strong and End strong.”

 

At a major engineering company in the Midwest, where I coach several executives, there is a gentleman who has been with the company 54 years. Recently he has struggled to keep up with technology, is not remembering things well, and his struggle to perform has led to personal frustration.

 

His colleagues are frustrated because they believe they are doing work he should do; his manager is frustrated because, 20 years his junior, he wants to do the right thing; and the gentleman is frustrated because he is not the stellar performer he always was in the past. Credibility and reputation are what great leaders build and keep.

 

Great leaders know when to step back.

GIVE AMAZING OPPORTUNITIES TO OTHERS

since as leaders progress in an organization there becomes a “reverse funnel”—there are only so many vice president positions in most companies. Great leaders quit while they’re ahead in order to provide growth and development for upcoming leaders.

 

Two examples I have observed in my work recently.

One, a strong leader who was able to take a private-equity company public. She did well financially but it was early in her career.  She consciously decided to step out of the company and give leadership to her COO. She took a sabbatical and came back into a different public company as CEO a few years later.

 

Great leaders know when to step back!

 

The second example is different. A large multi-national manufacturing company in the Northeast has a strong seniority system and still has a pension program (virtually unheard of these days). Due to cut backs four years ago, several positions were eliminated. Two employees were competing for the last administrative position:

  • a 33-year old professional, and
  • an employee who had been with the company 48 years, had full pension benefits, was taking 7 weeks of paid vacation for volunteer opportunities per year, and was very much involved in her community.  Due to seniority, the longer-term employee was offered the job. She accepted. The 33-year old swas disappointed; the team was frustrated since the administrative person was on vacation so much; and the employee was upset that the team didn’t seem to respect her decision.

 

QUIT. . .really???

Quitting in this context does not mean giving up or stopping all activities. It does mean leaders can redirect their experience, expertise and time in new ways. In today’s multigenerational workplace I would not tell workers to randomly “quit”

I would simply say, know when to “quit while you’re ahead!”

 

Great leaders know when to step back!

 

 

Mike’s book (co-authored with Merwyn Hayes) “Start with Humility” is worth the read, offering practical suggestions for leaders to live and work most effectively. Excellent for small group discussion. For more information see www.thehayesgroupintl.com.