I have professed CIO = Chief Information Intrepreneur Officer, responsible for creating new businesses for the business. To be a successful Intrepreneur one of the most fundamental requirements is an ability to build a good team.
In 1996, Jim Collins and his research team set out to answer one simple question: ‘Can a good company become a great company and, if so how?’ Their findings are described in his book, “Good to Great”. After 5 years of laborious research of analyzing 1435 companies, one of their findings was that to make a good company great, the successful leaders do not begin by setting new vision and strategy, they first get the right people on the bus (and wrong people off). If you end-up having a wrong or weak people in your team, failure will be written all over your project.
Success = Get the right people on the bus (and wrong people off)
However, there is a fine print which is often missed, “getting good people is tough and often ‘appears to be’ insurmountable.” In my current role, I am recruiting heavily and often we struggle to get the exact ‘fit for purpose’ person. Towards the end, we compromise and accept ‘not so fit for purpose’. We give ourselves excuses such as, “We accepted this candidate because of the money constraint, and we were losing precious time on the project”. The other way of looking at it, if it were easy to get good people, then everybody would have been extremely successful.
In summary: getting good people is difficult, but perhaps that is the secret sauce of successful people. I wonder, “An average person gives up too quickly?” and that is why they are an average person.
Recently, when I heard the news that Mark Carney, a Canadian citizen, is going to be the new Governor of the Bank of England, my eyebrows went up and stayed there for a while. I was shocked to note the Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to appoint a Canadian citizen for such a prestigious and critical post.
Mark Carney : The Governor of the Bank of England took charge on 01st of July 2013
Appointing foreign nationals is not alien to the Great Britain, in the past national team’s football coaches have been foreign nationals but the post of the governor is a different ball game. A governor’s decisions impact common man’s life and he can make or break the country’s economic future.
Mark Carney is definitely the first among equals candidate for the post. His actions as the Bank of Canada’s governor are said to have played a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impacts of the 2007 financial crisis.
George’s appointment of Mark Carney made me think that the magical trick of successful people is that they ensure good people are in their team, come what may. George knows the governor is the critical member of his team. His own success depends upon the success of the governor. He has worked hard to make sure the best person gets the job, even if he is a Canadian national.
Chancellor’s decision is particularly courageous and inspirational. His every statement and every step is analysed and criticised by the British media. Secondly, he is a beleaguered chancellor, he had to stand up in the parliament, swallow his pride and concede that economy will contract by 0.1% compared with the 0.8% growth he hoped for. When you are pushed to the corner, courage also shy away from you, but George has against all odds secured Mark Carney for the post.
If George Osborne can do it so can others, particularly a Chief Intrepreneur Officer should certainly try and do it. George’s challenges are even bigger and open for public criticism. If he can be patient and persevere then we (Mr. CIO included) should also go out and get best people in our team, wherever they are. Leave no stone unturned.
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