The people on the bus go round and round

First Who. One of the very first principles of Jim Collins' leadership book Good to Great. Collins agrues that the very first job of a great leader is to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. Only then can the group together figure out where to drive the bus.


Too often these days I hear of organizations losing the "right" people. Many excuses are offered up for these layoffs or missed opportunities. We can't afford him. She is being paid beyond her rank. And the one that really gets my juice flowing, we don't have a spot for him right now.


In Good to Great Collins talk about Wells Fargo's CEO Dick Cooley who saw change in the air but didn't know which way the wind would blow. So he began recruiting "one of the most talented management teams in the industry." "They hired outstanding people whenever and wherever they found them, often without any specific job in mind."


Once people are on the bus, then you can find the right seats.


We shoot ourselves in the foot when we wait for opportunities to open up before we will hire great people. Are you truly going to say that your organization is better off with "good" people occupying the seats than if you had "great" people in the seats? How do you get the great people? Are they magically coming along just as one of your spots open up? Who believes that life works so cleanly?

And what of those you let off the bus? I am reminded of the curse of the bambino (I guess I have lived with Yankee fans too long). Who thinks that the Red Sox trade of Babe Ruth was a good idea? Once you have a star -- keep him -- or her. It's a matter of cost? What is it going to cost you when your organization declines? It's a matter of fit? Great people are flexible. They have great talents that lie beyond the square peg. Find a place they can shine and bring light to the organization.

The book of Genesis is a study in getting the right people on the bus. God tries over and over again to find the right people to be his servants. God first seeks out all mankind in Adam through Noah's generation. When Abraham appears in the Bible he is selected as the "right" man for the job. His children and grandchildren aren't all so lucky, though. God chooses some of the family members to carry on the servant mission but not all. I am not one who believes that Lot, Ishmael, and Esav were "bad" people. The just weren't the "right" people for this job. Ishmael and Esav founded great nations of their own. But this particular task called for a particular type of greatness and that was found in Isaac and Jacob. Neither one had an easy entry into their "jobs." However, once chosen by God, God would not let them fail.

Sometimes it is true that there are two forces at work here - the worker and the organization. Not every time will there be a win-win. But as John Maxwell says in Leadership 101, you must always try for win-win. Put your best effort into it. Finding the next great person will take a whole lot more work.

Leadership Lesson: Search for great people. Recruit them to your cause. Find/Make room for them. Have their back. Don't lose them. (You can apply this for great friends just as well)