Great Leaders get a Second in Command

Every business leader, executive, indeed, every manager needs a right-hand. A back-up. A second-in-command. There are lots of reasons for that:

- Someone in charge when you travel or are out for whatever reason
- Someone who complements your strengths and fills in weaknesses
- Doubles effectiveness for certain tasks / responsibilities
- It’s always good to have a strong “bench”
- Reduces stress on the organization and improves its effectiveness
- Succession planning

A second-in-command can be the most important person in your organization. The rub is they’re very hard to find. They’re even harder to find when you’re not looking. It’s actually shocking how many key managers, executives, and business leaders don't get how important it is to have a back-up.

Having a second-in-command improves the effectiveness of every organization and is well worth the cost. Every key manager or leader should have one. As for finding that unique individual, it’s just like a specialized executive search. Here are five tips useful in finding your second in command:

21st Century Innovation Brings Speed to Knowledge

When we think about innovation, we typically think about the result, not the process, as if the idea sprang out of the ground fully formed. Innovation is not getting something to market; it's getting the right product or service to market. This requires a commitment to the consumer, not solely to your company's internal capabilities. It is speed to knowledge of what your customers want that matters, not just speed to deployment. True innovation takes a bit of planning.

We're all familiar with famous innovators such as Steve Jobs and Howard Schultz, but the truth is we're all innovators. It's behavior more than it is a gift. Fundamentally, it's about problem solving, understanding how to ask the right questions, and seeing patterns before facts.

There are four principles necessary to hold to in order to preserve what's essential about a brand without closing minds to the innovative opportunities a new product presents.

Leadership 101: Managing Up

Learning to manage up is required if you want to succeed in corporate America. It’s as important as getting the job done. Managing up gives your leaders a way to see the work you do in a way that will benefit you. It also creates job security. Here are five ways to manage up that will put you in line for raises, security, and a fulfilling career.

Re-thinking Innovation, 4 Innovation Myths

There’s a temptation to see innovation as the fun side of business, the nice bits where you get to use your creativity (instead of all that execution stuff). Innovation though has to be rethought as a discipline that’s distinct from cheer leading or brainstorming or crowd sourcing. So what are the top 4 assumptions we need to get rid of?

Can your perfect Mentor find you??

The advice has become almost a cliche: Find a mentor who can help you speed-learn the lessons needed to advance your career — a Yoda to instruct young Luke in the ways of the Jedi. This is bad advice. Yes, mentors can help dramatically. But you can’t find them — they need to find you.