The Seven Traits of Companies Who Build Great Leaders
Our fellow peer group member Arlin Sorenson said in his recent blog that “Leaders are made, not born.” Whether you believe this or not, he does have some compelling reasons that some companies are simply better at developing their leadership talent than others, and it has a great deal to do with INTENTION.
Please tune in this week as Wayne relates Arlin’s thinking and reviews seven traits of companies who build great leaders. What do you think? Are leaders born or made – or is there some combination of other factors? Please share your best thinking in the comments.
Invest in the futures of your company and your rising leaders. Enroll them in The Contractor Business Boot Camp scheduled for Dallas Nov. 3-4, 2022. Please contact Charlotte at ckopp@familybusinessinstitute.com for more information.
Hi, this is Wayne Rivers at FBI, and We Build Better Contractors.
This week, I want to talk about the seven traits of companies who build great leaders. And first, I want to thank Arlin
Sorensen, who's the source of this. He's our peer group member and friend. You've heard Dennis and I both reference
Arlin quite a bit. He does a daily blog. I don't know how he does it. It's amazing. Second, I want to shout out to Neha. Neha
is our head of marketing, and she normally does the videos and the production of all that stuff. But she's at home with a
new baby boy. So, congratulations to Neha. That's a great thing. And the circle of life continues.
So, this week, I want to talk about the seven traits of companies who build great leaders and what about this is important
to you. Well, golly, all of us are thinking about what's next. Well, all of us who are 60 or older, anyway, are thinking about
what's next. And there's not going to be a next. If you don't build that next group of leaders out, there's really no way for
you to gradually exit your company and your responsibilities gracefully. So, it's key that you start thinking about now how
are you going to build your next generation of leaders if you haven't started doing so already.
So, number one, they develop leaders by plan. So, they have plans for how they're going to develop their current managers
and also their younger developing people. Don't forget Boot Camp, by the way. Dallas, November 3rd and 4th. We're down
to 12 seats remaining. So, get your folks signed up for Boot Camp. So, they have plans for developing their next generation,
their next levels of talent. They have all other plans to budgets, capital budgets, all kinds of different things. And that's all
embodied in the company's overall strategic plan.
Brings me to the next point, which is companies that build great leaders focus on their mission, vision, and values. And
they transmit the mission, vision, and values down to that next generation of leaders. It's not just some pretty anthem or
language placed on the company wall somewhere. This is how they make decisions. They make decisions based on their
values, their mission, and their vision.
The third thing is great leaders need to be around other great leaders. Iron sharpens iron. And so, CEOs and also next
generation folks get into peer groups of one type or another, whether it's a local peer group or whether there's some
national peer group, like what we do, and some other folks do. Iron sharpens iron. And so, creating leaders in a vacuum is
pretty hard to do. Being around other leaders who are also learning and growing is a great tool.
The fourth thing, they invest time. Senior leaders invest time in their people. That is a priority for them. It is on their
schedules. They schedule time to meet with other leaders, build those people up on a one-on-one basis.
The fifth thing, they run their companies transparently. Companies who build great leaders tend to be open book, or open
bookish, let's say. I'm not sure anyone really profits from looking at your P&L and your balance sheet because they
probably wouldn't understand them. But having a means of communicating and being transparent about where the
company is financially, where the company is in terms of its overall state, where you're headed as a company, all those
things. That's another trait.
The seventh thing is that they celebrate and appreciate other people. Wins are attributed to the team. You guys did a
great job. Losses, mistakes, troubles, ah, I should have seen that coming. That's my fault. What are we going to do next
time? And you build from there.
So those are the seven traits. Now, Arlin says in his blog that the biggest excuse he hears for why companies don't invest
in, and train great next gen leaders is because if I invest all that money in them and then they leave the company, then
I'm out all of that time, effort, and money. That is so lame. That is so weak. I can't believe anybody in 2022 would even
say that anymore.
First of all, if you don't invest in those young next gen leaders, that means you've got a bunch of untrained people in your
employ and that makes it harder to be the leader. If you have to be everywhere every day with your hand on everything
continually, that doesn't make any sense to me. I want a great company and a great life. I want you to have a great
construction company and a great life. You can't do that with a bunch of untrained people. Invest in your folks.
The second reason that excuse is so lame is that you failed to demonstrate your commitment to improving their lives. And
in today's world, that's got to be a piece of it. You've got to demonstrate that you have your heart in the right place and
you're going to invest in these rising leaders so that not just you, but they can have a better life. That's got to be a part of
the equation. And that's just... In case you couldn't tell, that really gets under my skin. Arlin says leaders are made not
born. Can you quibble with that? I'd like to see what you have to say in the comments. So let us know what you think. This
is Wayne Rivers at FBI and We Build Better Contractors.
