One thing a lot of people miss: being a great leader starts before your team even start work.Publishing magnate Felix Dennis used to say: never seek a replica of yourself to delegate to, or to promote.
Apparently, it’s a common error in leaders. You have strengths and you have weaknesses in your own character – so it makes no sense to increase those strengths your organisation already possesses and not address the weaknesses.
Ad man David Ogilvy was also a big proponent of only ever hiring people who were smarter than them.
He kept a set of Russian nesting dolls, and would place sets around his offices to illustrate a point: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”
I hear they’re still dotted around Ogilvy offices today.
Moral : Consistently Hiring People who are smarter than yourself could be the greatest legacy you leave.
