Daily Leadership Thought #85 – Redundancy Is Important

An indication of a mediocre leader or manager is their reluctance to relinquish responsibilities and their faith in others to perform tasks as well or better than they can. These individuals feel it is what they know and control that makes them important and irreplaceable. The truth, however, is quite the opposite. What makes you invaluable as a manager or leader is your ability to identify, inspire, and cultivate the talent around you. Instead of fostering dependency on you, the goal is to create a sense of interdependency throughout your team.

Things happen in life. People leave to take other jobs, get promoted, have health issues, or struggle with other non-work responsibilities. Dependence upon any one employee (including you) makes the organization vulnerable. And, a major part of a leader’s job is to manage risk and protect against business vulnerabilities. Effective leaders and managers are always on the lookout for growth opportunities for their staff. They also appreciate the importance of cross-training key employees in the critical functions of the business. It may sound counterintuitive, but your job is to make your operation redundant from an individual performance perspective.