My company recommends Maxwell's
Developing the Leader Within You, along with several other Maxwell titles. I've started it, and I try to think about how it relates to both my workplace and my chorus.
One of the things it says is that, as a leader, you should always be developing, encouraging, and growing the leaders around and especially "under" you in the organization. Of course, a chorus is different from a business; there really isn't an "under", there's just "around".
My sister recently described how her company handles their yearly United Way campaign. They have a very set and practical way of a) getting people to manage the UW campaign, and b) training them to do so. They have three phases the committee Chair goes through: Training, Chair, Large Donations. Their first year, they learn the ropes from the current Chair. The second year, they're the Chair and they run the program and train the next Chair. Their last year, they're in charge of managing the large donations people (typically upper management).
This scheme has several advantages, it seems to me, and ties in to Maxwell. It's three years, so it's a set commitment, not "OMG Forever!" You get training from the person that just last year had your job. The next year you train the next person to do the job you're doing right now. The last year, the person you just trained is the Chair, and they can ask for help training the next person, and you've had two years to get to know all the current and up-and-coming bigwigs and get them to give you the United Way lots of money.
How are you developing the leader within you? How are you developing the leaders around you? How are you developing the next guy to fill your position? Sound off in the comments.
