Strong leaders are courageous,
powerful, outgoing, and decisive, but the one of the most remarkable traits of
strong leaders is their ability to step aside and let others lead when the
moment calls for it. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of you and your
team, and the willingness to use the best person for the job, are two of the
key weapons in a strong leaders’ arsenal.
No one highlights the importance
of stepping aside more than TOMS shoes founder, Blake Mycoskie. When TOMS
started, Blake and his three interns ran the company out of his Venice Beach
apartment. Resources were so tight that four employees had to share a single
cordless phone. In his book Start
Something That Matters Blake describes how, when one day a sales rep from
Nordstrom called, having one phone became the perfect opportunity to show when
to step aside.
“‘I’m an assistant buyer,’ the
man continued. ‘I need to get this order processed right away.’
‘I would love to send them to
you,’ I said, ‘but we don’t have any shoes now.’
The man started to get a little
testy. ‘Just me put me in touch with the sales department,’ he snapped.
Not sure what to do, I tossed the
phone to one of the interns. She shrugged. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘This is the sales
department.’”
The intern gave the sales rep the
same answer as Blake, and when the rep then asked for the customer service
department, the intern explained that he’d already spoken to almost everyone
who worked for the company, including the Founder and CEO. In the end the rep
was so charmed by the cheekiness of TOMS that he placed the order anyway, and
today Nordstrom is one of TOMS’ largest retailers.
Blake had a choice in this
situation. He was the founder and CEO of the company and could have told the
sales rep that right away, but rather than use his power to control the
situation he gave one of his employees a chance to step up to the plate. And in
the process, he turned what could have been a stressful situation into a fun,
teachable moment.
Strong leaders are often called
to be brave and courageous in the face of complex situations, but, like Blake
Mycoskie, one of the bravest things a leader can do is to step aside and let
the right person do the job.
I’d love to hear from you. Use
the comment section below to tell me about a time you stepped aside.
Remember, you
can change it…we can help!
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