1. Five Weeks Without the Head of HR
Recently, the Head of HR at a larger company where I was conducting an executive search took five weeks off. From working with her, I knew how deeply involved she was in practically all important top-level people matters. Many executive hiring decisions came together on her desk, she was a key interface with several members of the executive board, and she therefore held a great deal of knowledge and information.
My first thought was: How is this supposed to work for five weeks?
Before leaving, she handed over her responsibilities to a colleague on her team who had only been with the company for a relatively short time. That did not exactly reduce my skepticism.
And then: nothing happened.
Her colleague stepped in seamlessly. Our search continued without a hitch, decisions were made, information was available, and from my perspective as an outsider, there was hardly any noticeable difference.
After she returned, my contact told me that during the first few days of her break, she had nervously checked her email inbox again and again. She was ready to step in at any moment if something escalated or an emergency arose. But nothing did.
I think that is a pretty good sign.
2. “Nothing Works Here Without Her”
It usually sounds like a great compliment when people say about a leader: “Nothing works here without him.” Or: “If she left tomorrow, we would have a serious problem.”
But is that really a sign of good leadership?
Of course, good leaders leave a gap when they go. They have experience, relationships, and knowledge that cannot simply be replaced overnight. It becomes problematic, however, when an organization is permanently dependent on one particular person being present.
If decisions are put on hold whenever the boss is on vacation, customers can only speak to one person, and relevant knowledge exists in just one person’s head, being indispensable may be less of an achievement than we think.
3. Leadership Should Reduce Dependency
Over time, good leadership should make an organization less dependent on its leader. That means sharing knowledge, delegating responsibility, and allowing other people to make decisions. Above all, it means developing employees so that they can independently take on responsibilities previously handled by the leader.
That is exactly what I found remarkable about this example. My contact had clearly given her relatively new colleague more than just the necessary information. She had also given her the trust and decision-making authority to genuinely step into her role.
That sounds obvious. But it isn’t.
4. Being Indispensable Feels Good
Because being needed feels pretty good. If people constantly ask for your input, you feel important. If every relevant decision requires your approval, you have influence. And if you are the only person who understands certain connections, you automatically hold power.
Making others truly capable of acting independently, on the other hand, means giving up some of that importance. Suddenly, employees make decisions themselves. Perhaps even differently from how you would have made them. And at some point, you may discover that things work without you.
What may feel like a loss of importance is actually a sign of good leadership.
A leader who can make every important decision personally may be excellent. But in my view, a leader whose team can make good decisions without them has achieved even more.
5. The Vacation Test
Perhaps there is a fairly simple test of leadership quality: What would happen if you were completely unavailable for four or five weeks starting tomorrow?
Would important decisions be put on hold? Would customers and colleagues wait for your return? Would projects be delayed because you are the only person who understands certain issues? Or would your area continue to operate largely as normal, with your team making the necessary decisions themselves?
Of course, that does not mean the leader is unnecessary. Quite the opposite. If a team can function well without its leader for an extended period, it may demonstrate that structures have been created, knowledge has been shared, and people have been developed.
And perhaps the strength of the second line is therefore one of the best testimonials a leader can receive for their own work.
6. My Impuls
What would happen if you were unavailable for five weeks starting tomorrow?
Would you be reassured if everything continued to run smoothly - or perhaps even a little irritated?
And what does it say about your leadership if your team performs exceptionally well without you?
Perhaps good leadership is not measured by how much an organization needs its leader, but by how well it functions when that leader is not there.
