At the Top
The Leadership Journeys: At the Top
I handed him a box of 500 freshly printed business cards. He held the box in his hands, staring with wonder for about 30 seconds. Then, with all the glee of a child who was just given a crisply wrapped package on Christmas morning, he ripped open the cards, pulled one out and pulled it closer to his face. After inspecting closely he yelled out “Yes! You know it!” He then looked at me, smiled with pride, and handed me a card—President. As his Marketing Director, I felt honored to be the first recipient.
Fast forward a year. We were in Washington, D.C., for a conference. He was the keynote speaker. At check-in, the badge issuer looked down at his badge and said “Oh, Mr. President!” in a tone to denote respect for his accomplishment. He replied “Would you like to wear my badge?” in a joking tone that had just enough sadness in the reply to make you wonder if he was perhaps serious. After he delivered his keynote, we were at a cocktail reception. There was a brief moment of pause between fellow conference attendees pouring accolades on him. I asked him, “Hey—is it everything it’s cracked up to be, this President thing?” He smirked and said something like, “You know, someone has to be the President, I just wish I knew what I was getting myself into before I printed the business cards!”
What a difference a year can make!
It is said “it’s lonely at the top”. I’ve seen that to be true of my “At the Top” clients. No one gives you straight answers anymore. You don’t have any true peers in your organization. And though you do share the burden of running the company with others, ultimately it’s your neck on the line.
Whether you’ve just taken on your “At the Top” post or you’ve been there for a while, we suggest there are three keys to surviving AND thriving:
Being a person worth following
Providing crucial clarity
Building a great team
Being a person worth following is all about being authentic and approachable. Being authentic when you’re at the top looks like being confident in who you are and honest about who you’re not. Being approachable is about letting others have an opinion that may differ from your own and being open to feedback.
You will also need to provide crucial clarity in the areas of Purpose, Vision and Values. You will need to passionately articulate your why (Purpose) and remind people over and over again what it is and why it matters. You need to set a course and provide the plan to get there (Vision) and you will need to keep your culture intact (Values) as you navigate wherever the journey takes your organization.
You also need to build a great team. You need to get the right people in the right seats. You need to motivate and develop them. You need to give them a path to grow. And you need to help them lean into healthy conflict when necessary to maintain a healthy culture.
That’s a high-level overview of what it looks like when you’re taking new ground. A five-phased approach on the “how” and “when” is codified in the Rootstock At the Top Journey Map.