Why Success Doesn't Travel With You

Only a few leaders who succeed in one organization can do it again in another. I am asked about this often, and the answer disappoints people who assume a strong track record is portable.

The ones who can have an intuitive sense of how to lead people, cultivate relationships, stay authentic, manage change and read the political realities that exist in every organization and every industry. Their success is not tied to a specific playbook. It comes from intangibles that shine in any environment.

The question matters because leaders change companies and industries more often than they once did, and they are regularly dropped into cultures they didn't build. Every one of those moves tests whether a leader's success was personal or situational.

Leadership can be taught, but it is more attitude than a set of learned skills. Great leaders know they are leading. They are aware that others are watching and taking note. And they are less concerned with controlling people than with creating an environment where the people around them can succeed. Leaders who depend on control fail in environments they can't control.

Seven intangibles make leadership portable.

1. Lead People, Don't Manage Puppets

People, regardless of rank, want to know their leaders are paying attention to them and understand what they are truly capable of achieving. Great leaders detect talent and often unleash hidden abilities in others. Leaders who treat people like puppets drive talented people away, and in doing so, they weaken the organization itself.

2. Earn Relationships, Don't Manipulate

Too many leaders use their power to create confusion and maintain control. That is artificial leadership. Great leaders take the time to earn relationships and take responsibility for them. That builds confidence and trust. People begin to feel that you care about them and see them as peers rather than subordinates. This is the only form of leadership that travels with you.

3. Be Authentic, Don't Hide Behind the Title

Reveal who you really are as a person. Too many leaders hide behind their title instead of delivering the responsibility that comes with it. Are you always impressed by people with important titles? Of course not. What impresses us is authenticity, and people who lack it often lack self-esteem underneath. As I have said before, respect doesn't come with the title.

4. Manage Change Organically, Don't Force Outcomes

Great leaders don't panic. They step back, assess the situation carefully and use the first three intangibles as they work with their teams to solve the problem. Leaders who try to control every outcome are often afraid of being exposed. In a crisis, the goal is to solve the problem, not to identify the culprit.

5. Be Politically Savvy, Don't Create the Politics

Every organization has inherent dynamics that no one person can completely control. They are part of the company's DNA. Effective leaders accept that and don't try to change too much too quickly. They observe, and they give people the benefit of the doubt. They don't build their own political web to override the existing culture.

6. Serve the Industry You Enter, Don't Disrespect It

Being a hero in your previous industry doesn't mean your new one will accept you easily. I lived this firsthand when I moved into the seafood industry after being an executive in the beverage industry. It took time, but I learned what was unique about seafood and then incorporated the best practices I had brought from the beverage world. Ultimately, my peers respected that I was trying to make their industry better, not replace it with mine.

Don't undermine the industry you join. If you do, it will undermine you. The industry sets the ground rules, not you. Respect it and grow with it.

7. Know the Organization and Its History

This may be the most valuable intangible of all. Learn your employer's backstories, both internal and external. The smartest thing I did when I moved from one company to another was to understand the organization's past. The most effective way I found was to lead town hall style meetings and ask employees to share their perspectives on the organization's future. When you ask people about the future, they always tell you about the past.

That helped me connect the dots more quickly and plan more effectively. It also accelerated the first three intangibles and the fifth, because listening is the unwritten job of every leader who arrives from somewhere else.

Separate the Personal From the Situational

Before you accept a new role, be honest about which parts of your past success depended on relationships and context you won't have there. Find the people who can teach you the history of the organization before you change anything. Ask what the new industry does well that your old one never learned. And picture how people will experience you in your first 90 days, then decide whether that is the leader you want to be known as.

Leaders who can succeed in more than one organization are rare. Study these intangibles and make them your own, especially if you are moving up, or over, in the leadership ranks.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.