One of my most valuable lessons on Leadership came from a client I worked for during the first few years of my business.
Tim was the managing director for an accounting firm run as a partnership. He and other founding members of that company realized that it was impossible for them to retire unless they grew the company and filled it with people who were BETTER than they were. Thus his mantra was,
“The principle job of a leader is to raise up other leaders.”
He nurtured a culture that honored most those partners who invested in the next generation. The organization
supported coaching and mentoring across all levels and locations of the business, both because it was good for the people and because it was good for the business.
Public accounting is an industry rife with turnover, but not in this company. Tim proved that caring about the
bottom line and caring about people are compatible concerns. Instead of having to continually turn to the market to “buy” new talent, he encouraged all leaders to be like Gardeners, nurturing organic growth.
When you invest in coaching – whether using internal leaders or external coaches like me – you accelerate the learning and growth of your most precious resources: your next generation of leaders.
