Page 78 - How We Lead Matters

The Long View

It’s been said that the mark of a true leader is thinking well beyond his or her
years, that is, establishing a leadership culture in an organization that
becomes the organization’s hallmark.
I think back to an article written for Fortune magazine by the business
author Jim Collins, who has made a career of studying companies that last
and thrive across decades. Jim was charged with identifying the “10 Greatest
CEOs” of all time and the reason for their greatness.
Speaking to his methodology, he noted that he deliberately excluded
some currently prominent names from the list: Microsoft’s Bill Gates, GE’s
Jack Welch, and others like them. His rationale: Leaders cannot truly be
judged until ten years have passed after their tenure.
Only then can a leader’s impact be known. Did the company or organi-
zation stay the course? Did it produce other leaders who were just as successful?
When we think about the world’s great leaders, did their impact not
become better understood decades later? Only time made clear who was truly
great.
Rather than expend all their energies on the short term, leaders who
aspire to greatness beyond their time might be well advised to approach the
world with this curiosity: What will generations say about them “years
beyond their ken”?

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 61