Charismatic Business Leaders: What to do afterwards? A Problem to Be Avoided

I can remember back in the late 1970s when only engineers and escentrics operated an apple computer.  My neighbor brought me over and tried to explain how the large odd-shaped device worked.  MS-DOS was not invented, and  my attention span waned.

Business has embraced many aspects of Apple, along with the consumer, driving it beyond Microsoft’s highest endeavours.

But what happens  without Steve Jobs at the helm, and how does this series of events relate to small and medium-sized businesses?

Kathleen Pender speaks of this issue in   Maintaining success after exit of a charistmatic CEO.  However, she really is not addressing the right questions.  Does a company need a charasmatic leader?  Or, what kind of personl should lead a company?

Jim Collins writes about these in his two books, Good to Great and Built to Last.  In Built to Last he states that visionary companies do not require great charismatic visionary leaders.  “In fact, [they] can be detrimental to a company’s long-term prospects.  Some of the most significant CEOs in the history of visionary companies did not fit the model of the high-profile, charismatic leader.”

In Good to Great, Jim states what kind of leaders should lead a company.  Level 5 leadership during pivotal transitional years “refers to a five-level hierarchy of executive capabilities, with Level 5 at the top.  Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.  They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitous first and foremost for the company, not themselves.”

Steve Jobs seemed to fit this definition.  He seemed to push the company, not himself which will help foster the Apple tradition long after he departs from it.

Small and medium-sized business owners should take note of this distinction.  I find that so many owners sell their personas, not the company.  This is almost fatal in two respects:

1. When the owner wants to sell the business.
2. When the owner dies.

In both cases, the inherent value of the company is tied to the owner, not the balance sheet.  If he goes, it goes.

So, how do you get out of this vicious circle.  I recommend:

1. Read the E-Myth by Michael Gerber.  The author descrives the owner’s chokehold on a business, and why a business of that type struggles to grow.
2. Train, train, train others to do specific tasks that you perform.  If you are worried about losing your customers to you employees, create a system of divided labor where each person performs specific tasks, but you still hold the key to putting it all together.
3. Set out a timeline for an exit plan.  When do you plan to sell the busiess?  How big does your business have to be before you sell it?  What annual metrics can you measure to make sure you are on your path?

Quantify you feelings.  Don’t dream of a company that you cannot measure its success or milestones.  You can be a visionary, but the it is not about you, it is about your business.