Jim Collins shocked the leadership world in his book Built To Last by introducing the concept that charismatic leaders are vastly over-rated and often something to recover from. In short, sustainable churches and organizations cannot be personality driven. I have thought a lot about this leadership principle lately.
The most compelling segment on sports radio for smart leaders is the weekly 11:00 AM EST Thursday segment with NFL Films Greg Cosell on ESPN’s The Herd With Colin Cowherd. I catch the replay of the conversation every Thursday evening via the ESPN Radio App.
This past Thursday, October 16th Cosell made the following observation, “Seattle (Seahawks) is getting too reliant on outliers as staples.” He specifically notes, “Are they relying too much on offense on deception and Russell Wilson random improvisation?”
There are 9 Common Mistakes When Leading Top Leaders, Outliers Or Superstars I gleaned from Cosell’s statements:
- Developing quality SYSTEMS is more important than acquiring superstars.
- You cannot build long-term success on things which are consistently random or improvised.
- Ordinary people do not do extraordinary things. What make superstars/outliers great though is their ability to successfully improvise and color outside the lines.
- However, you can become too reliant on superstars. You need to build a solid team for long-term success.
- Superstars give a false sense of security. While you enjoy temporary success, if you lose the superstar you accelerate the journey towards mediocrity or worse.
- If misused, over-reliance on superstars prevent you from doing what you do best. Cosell shockingly discovered, “The first base run they had in this game (Dallas Cowboys) with Wilson under center and handed the ball to Marshawn Lynch came at 4:46 in the 3rd quarter.”
- Superstars can cause you to become lazy as a leader. You may no longer put in the needed effort, creativity and preparation for success.
- You may lack consistency relying on outliers or superstars. Cosell said, “It’s hard to be consistent relying on random plays.”
- You can take the superstar for granted. This is a mistake even the most experienced leaders make because excellence become average when it is all you have. A woman who was abandoned by her husband once told me, “You never miss the water until the well runs dry.”
What other mistakes have you made leading talented people?
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