Chapter 6: Assuming Responsibility for a Business

Overview

Few passages in the life of a leader are as fulfilling as becoming a general manager. We’ve alluded to this passage in earlier chapters, because becoming the head of a business can be a stretch assignment, involve the risk of substantial failure, and occur when you join a new company—all at the same time. It is such a significant passage that we need to focus on not only its upside but the downside for leaders who are not open to learning.

It’s fair to say that this is the passage that separates the future CEOs from the pretenders. For the latter, instead of being a pathway to higher leadership positions, this passage becomes a dead end. These people, seduced by power and deluded by arrogance, not only fail to achieve a more senior leadership position but squander the opportunity to run a business on their own. The job they thought was a dream becomes a nightmare.

Letting go of past beliefs and practices and opening yourself up to new ideas and approaches is important in all passages, but the nature of this transition makes letting go and opening up a particularly difficult challenge. When people are named to head a business, they feel like they’ve arrived; in most companies, these positions are highly coveted. It’s very difficult to display humility when you feel “chosen,” and many GMs, in our experience, succumb to arrogance. We often counsel senior executives that in their ascent to senior ranks, their jokes become funnier, their insights become brighter, and their viewpoint more intelligent—all due to the fact that no one wants to take them on. This can contribute to hubris, arrogance, and derailment. After a career-long climb to an apparent summit, you need to recognize that the peak is an illusion. If you persist in believing that you have been anointed rather than selected, your high perch will turn into a precipice, and sooner or later you’ll fall off.

To translate this metaphorical warning into business language, let’s look at what assuming responsibility for a business really means.