It’s all too familiar – a great leader leaves an organisation and the place falls apart, literally!  People start leaving to follow the previous leader, prior approaches and techniques are slowly but surely eroded and a whole new culture rears its head!

Was that person truly a great leader?  It’s clear the people bought into him or her as a PERSON, and not the dream or cause or purpose for the company.   Does a connected leader allow that?

What do we see evolved leaders doing differently?

1. An evolved leader ensures the people are aligned moreso with the vision  and dream and not the ‘person at the top’, measuring this through the personification of the dream.

2. An evolved leader constantly refers to when the people themselves will be leading the cause, and empowers and skills them to be doing so even before his departure is imminent.

3. An evolved leader encourages the people to become the spokespeople and ambassador of the cause or vision.

Corporate leadership is evolving with a major emphasis on responsibility.  How could things be different if financial golden handshakes were only payable after an organisation has demonstrated sustained performance well beyond a departure date?  Even better, if others shared the golden handshake for carrying the torch to the future. Better still, the golden handshake is non-financial, perhaps in the form of the dream’s evolution!