Companies don’t need a great leader! from Mary Mershein

Great leaders maximize their own personal goals.

There is nothing wrong with this. However, if the goals of these leaders are not in line with the goals of their company, these great leaders become bad for their company. 
Consider the British newspaper “News of the World” established in 1843. It was the biggest selling English newspaper in the world with a circulation of over 8 million at its peak compared to the Wall Street Journal which had a peak circulation of just over 2 million. 

 In 2007 the editor of News of the World, Clive Goodman, admitted to publishing articles obtained by phone hacking and went to jail. In 2011 the newspaper paid fines to the victims and shut down. The parent company News Corp. made 20% return on investment in 2011. The executives, including CEO Rupert Murdoch, profited while the newspaper was destroyed.

So how does an organization ensure management and the company both want the same thing?

The answer is communication. Rupert Murdoch and the other executives at News Corp. testified before a parliamentary select committee in November 2011 that they were unaware of any wrongdoings.

The higher up a manager is in the organization, the less connection there is with staff. Once you reach the Executive and Board level decision makers receive almost all of their information funneled through a few individuals. Sometimes they employ analyses which cannot show the entire picture of what is truly going on. This is how situations are created where those in charge benefit from the demise of the company.

However, when people talk to people, face-to-face, on a regular basis it is much harder to disguise the truth. There are no numbers to manipulate. There are no one-sided stories. Any deviations between what the company wants and what the individual wants become evident and can be corrected before harm is done.

Companies don’t need a great leader. Great leaders are individuals working towards their own goals.

Companies need fraternities. These fraternities are groups of leaders all working together for a common cause.

And the next time you attend a leadership training course, don’t go alone! Take the Board of Directors and the CEO with you.

©2012

Mary Mershein is a Chartered Accountant with a master’s degree in management who believes common sense is our greatest financial analysis. Additional common sense can be found at www.moosemoney.wordpress.com.