Unlearning: Not training new leaders

'Sink or swim' is not a leadership theory

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Unlearning: Not training new leaders

When my son was little, I bought him a new bike without training wheels. I set it out on the sidewalk in front of the house, gave him a brief description of the various aspects of the bike and what they were for, and left him to figure it out. I went inside to make dinner and figured he would let me know if he was having any trouble.

I did not hear from him for a couple of hours so I went out to check on him. He was laying in the grass under the bike asleep. I could tell that he had been crying for awhile as the tears were stained on his face. He had clearly fallen off the bike and under it. I nudged him with my shoe to wake him up. I asked him if he was doing okay, told him how to get the bike off him and walked back into the house to continue with my own day.

How do you feel about me right now? Are you mad? Sad that I was so negligent for my little guy? About to call child protection services due to my neglect?

If so, good.

This didn't happen. I made it up. You can put the phone down.

But I do want you to think about how you and/or your organization supports new leaders. The situation I have described is far too often the case those we elevate.

You know how it goes. Someone is hired or promoted to a leadership position. It is their first time as a leader. They get told about the job overall, are handed an HR handbook, shown where the bathroom is if they don't already know, and are left to it.

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