12
HR
West
®
I
had a great meeting recently with the head
of HR of an investment management firm.
My client shared with me some of her
frustrations she was experiencing in developing her
company’s leaders.
“We did all the right things. We identified our
high potentials. We put them in development
programs. We gave them all VP titles and increased
compensation. And now we are waiting—waiting for
them to lead,” she lamented.
I asked what she meant by waiting, and she said,
“They aren’t leading. They are waiting for direction
from the executive team, or acting as bystanders as
problems persist or project derail. It’s like they don’t
know what it means to be a leader.”
I’m hearing similar frustrations from other HR
professionals. It does seem that many leaders
don’t really understand what it really means to be a
leader today.
One of the reasons I believe this is happening is
because leaders fail to understand that when you
take on a leadership role, you are actually entering
into a formal, binding covenant. I call this The
Leadership Contract.
These are the basic terms that all leaders, regardless
of size or organization or sector, need to live up to
in order to produce meaningful results and earn the
continued loyalty of the people they lead.
It’s a lot like conducting an online transaction –
downloading music, purchasing an airline ticket or
buying a pair of shoes. At some point, a window
with a long list of boring, exhaustive terms and
conditions pops up, and asks us to “agree.” It’s an
online contract.
We all know that if we don’t accept those terms, we
won’t be able to complete our transaction. So what
do you do when you are multitasking and trying to
get a lot done? You click ‘agree’ without ever actually
reading the terms of the online contract. Studies
show 93% of do this – we never read the terms of
online contracts.
I think it’s pretty clear that many leaders today
have just clicked ‘agree’ to get the promotion, the
bigger paycheck, the power and the perks without
truly understanding what it is they’re signing up
for. Just like the leaders my client described in her
organization. I believe if leaders sign up to be leaders
without understanding what it really means to lead,
they won’t be effective.
In my book,
The Leadership Contract,
I describe
four terms that all leaders must fully understand
before signing to take on a leadership role.
1
LEADERSHIP IS
A DECISION. MAKE IT.
Sometimes, it’s all too easy for leaders to forget that
leadership is ultimately a choice. All the great leaders
I’ve worked with describe times in their careers
where they had to make a conscious, deliberate
decision to step into a situation and lead. But it is
in these moments when you have to be honest with
yourself: are you really the right person for the job?
Will you be in over your head? Is this really the role
you want to fill? If you cannot answer yes to all these
questions, don’t sign the leadership contract. Find
other ways to add value in your organization.
2
LEADERSHIP IS AN
OBLIGATION. STEP UP.
Many leaders don’t appreciate the fact that
leadership roles carry significant obligations. In the
end, it’s not about you—it’s about your customers,
DRIVING ACCOUNTABILITY
WITH A LEADERSHIP CONTRACT
By Vince Molinaro
“We did all the right things. We identified our high potentials. We put
them in development programs. We gave them all VP titles and increased
compensation. And now we are waiting—waiting for them to lead.”
Accountability
