Above all else

  In the well-known book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, the author makes reference to what he calls "Level 5 leadership", as an essential ingredient to long-term, next-level corporate success. Among other things, "Level 5" leaders are characterised by this: they internalise and take accountability when things go wrong, and they externalise and give credit to extrinsic factors and people when they encounter success. This seems contrary to a lot of advice that people get these days. Do good work, but make your work visible. Take credit, build your brand. The culture of the "hero CEO" is ever more in vogue, building on the legacy of Jack Welch in the 80s and 90s, Steve Jobs in the 2000s, and the likes of Elon Musk and Jensen Huang today. I don't disagree that creating visibility for one's work is helpful. But the underlying attitude and purpose matters. I once worked for someone who spent what seemed like endless amounts of t...

In a number of organisations, there's a practice of appointing a "staff assistant" to the CEO or other senior leader, where the intent is to provide exposure and development opportunities for the staff assistant, while hopefully being useful to the senior leader.  Examples in the Government include the role of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister or senior cabinet leaders, or possibly the Justice's Law Clerks for the High Court judges. In the private sector, titles include staff assistant, and for more senior appointments, even Chief of Staff. Many years ago, I was working late in the office when I returned to my desk from a meeting. Some of the office lights had already been turned off, so it was a bit dim, and the office was quiet. When I got to my desk, I saw my boss' boss sitting in my chair! I half thought to myself - oh no. I'm gonna be fired. I wasn't fired. Phew. But she *was* asking me to leave. She asked me how I was, and then in cha...