Last week’s blog was devoted to a question for leaders: “Are you a founder, an inheritor, or a beneficiary?”
Based on some reading that I did some years ago in The Harvard Business Review, I suggested many enterprises (religious enterprises included) fail in the third generation, because their leaders treat the institutions and organizations that have been entrusted to their care as an entitlement. What are the characteristics of a third generation leader who avoids that temptation and becomes a benefactor instead? These are some of the things those leaders do and don’t do:
One: Benefactors continue to assume responsibility for vision, mission, and strategy.
Organizations may grow in size and complexity. Those changes may demand that more people be involved in helping provide leadership for an organization at various levels. But a benefactor continues to take responsibility for vision, mission, and strategy.
Two: Benefactors keep an eye on the environment in which the work is done.
Over time the mission and vision of an organization is transformed, challenged, and stretched by changing circumstances. A company like Kodak, for example, ignored this reality and continued making film, when the demand around them was for capturing and preserving images. Had they paid attention, Kodak would have enjoyed continued ascendancy in the marketplace.
Three: Benefactors don’t blame the environment or their predecessors.
Beneficiaries blame their environment and their predecessors for the challenges that they face. Benefactors recognize that there is no ideal environment. They see leadership as a responsibility to be shouldered, not an honor that they deserve, and they lead, whatever the circumstances might be.
Four: Benefactors avoid defensive strategies that fail to address the challenges that their organization faces during their watch.
They don’t “sell the farm.” They don’t take refuge behind talk about “a new normal.” They don’t flail and thereby increase the anxiety around them. The more difficult the circumstances, the more deliberative and focused they become.
Five: Benefactors make the most spiritually important decision of all.
Benefactors look beyond their lives, their tenure, and their legacy, looking instead to the task of entrusting a vital enterprise to the next generation. As such, benefactors care as much about the trajectory of an organization’s life as they do about their moment as its leader.
Photo by sheelamohan used with permission from freedigitalphotos.net
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In