The story of Hollywood actors nearly going broke before getting their big break is like a movie in and of itself. From Jennifer Lopez to Halle Berry to The Rock, multiple A-listers have shared their experiences of sleeping in bus stations or cars or shelters, getting all the way down to their last dollar before finally finding success.
These stories are powerful, inspiring, and in some cases, almost unbelievable. Maybe some of them did not happen in quite as dramatic a fashion as they do in their retelling, but they do make for a good story, one that often has the same predictable ending. Once they hit it big, in the irony of all ironies, they start to get lots of stuff for free.
When these people were down and out, most people were not willing to give them anything, but once they hit it big and suddenly do not want for anything? That is when they start to get free stuff. And lots of it. From designer clothes, to trips, to cars, rich people get lots of free things for lots of different reasons. There are advertising opportunities and curried favors and tax things I do not completely understand. I won’t say it doesn’t make any sense. But it sure doesn’t make any sense, does it?
It reminds me so much of how we approach leadership training. We wait until people are at the highest levels possible- primarily the executive suite- and then we provide them with expensive coaching. We wait until they are rich- literally and metaphorically- and then we give them stuff. In this case, though it isn’t quite free. In fact, it costs a lot.
By neglecting to train your leadership until they have managed themselves all the way up to the C-suite, you have caused irreparable harm to your organization as well as those within it. By investing all of your leadership dollars in costly executive coaches, you have received a poor return on your investment.
That is not to say that executives should not receive coaching. Quite the contrary. Everyone can benefit from high-quality coaching and should have access to it either internally or externally (or even both). Everyone should invest and be invested in continual growth no matter how high their rank or how big their office. Therefore, everyone should invest and be invested in for continual growth no matter how high their rank or how big their office. None too high and none too low.
When I started out as a manager myself and years later when I started supporting other managers (and still today), I found it so bizarre that so much of the support for managers was concentrated at the top. That so much of the free stuff was reserved for the rich. It makes so much more sense to me to invest in people who are just starting out and continuing to invest in them throughout their time as managers so that they can continue to learn and grow throughout their time as leaders rather than waiting until they reach the top. Not waiting to give them money once they are rich.
Instead, we need to invest and support our managers at all levels because, as cliche as it sounds, the learning never ends, and being a strong manager is not easy. It requires effort, investment, and support.
How are you investing in your managers who are just starting out? How are you investing in your managers who have been doing it for a while? How can I help?
