The distance between the leaders and the average is a constant.
In human affairs, the distance between the leaders and the average is a constant. If leadership performance is high, the average will go up. The effective executive knows that it is easier to raise the performance of one leader than it is to raise the performance of a whole mass. She therefore makes sure that she puts into the leadership position, into the standard-setting, the performance-making position, the person who has the strength to do the outstanding, the pacesetting job. The always requires focus on the one strength of a person and dismissal of weaknesses as irrelevant unless they hamper the full deployment of the available strength.
The task of an executive is not to change human beings. Rather, as the Bible tells us in the parable of the talents, the task is to multiply the performance capacity of the whole by putting to use whatever strength, whatever health, whatever aspiration there is in individuals.
ACTION POINT: To raise the performance of a business unit, put a strong leader at the helm.
The Effective Executive
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker