DEPARTURE OF THE INDISPENSABLE MAN

Man works best as part of a team because the product of group effort far exceeds the sum of the members’ individual contributions. This is why team development is a critical part of Virtuous Leadership. The result, teamwork, is combined action that is efficient and potent. It is what makes a team dynamic and effective.

Teamwork require delegation, which is the Leader’s entrustment of the performance of a critical task to a team member. To effectively delegate, the Leader must provide the team member the tools he will need to perform the task properly without direct supervision. This requires energetic commitment from the Leader—he must pour himself out like Jesus did with his disciples.

When a trusted subordinate performs a delegated task with excellence, the Leader’s heart naturally fills with joy. That man, he thinks, has become indispensable to me. His performance of a critical task frees me up to do more important things and makes us more efficient and potent. He is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of my group’s mission.

Likewise with a man with whom a Leader has  shared leadership because he brings a complementary skill to the team, some ability that the Leader does not himself have. That man, the Leader might think, has become indispensable to me. Because he can do something with excellence that I can only do poorly, I can focus on what I can do with excellence, which makes us more efficient and potent. He is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of my group’s mission.

As natural as such thoughts are for a Virtuous Leader, he must discipline himself against them. They are a dangerous trap because the Indispensable Man may someday leave the group. What then? If the Leader has not prepared himself for that eventuality, he is likely to have two adverse reactions. First, resentment toward the man as if his departure is an act of betrayal. After all I have done for him, how could he leave me? Second, panic about what comes next. How will I ever find another man to replace him? He is, after all, indispensable.

To avoid that trap, the Leader must first assume that the Indispensable Man’s tenure in the group is finite, that he will someday leave and at the worst possible moment for the group.

That way, he will not see it as an act of betrayal but rather for what it is, the natural desire of all men to seek other opportunities. When confronted with the departure of the Indispensable Man, the Virtuous Leader must not think “how could you do this to me,” but rather “how can I help you succeed where you are going?”

Second, the Leader must always be preparing for the departure of the Indispensable Man by equipping other men to take his place. Equipping, matching a team’s members with its mission, is a vital part of team development. Preparation is getting ready for the expected while being ready for the unexpected. The departure of the Indispensable Man is expected, while the time of his departure is unexpected—the Virtuous Leader must prepare for both by equipping the next man in line.

Finally, the Leader must view the departure of the Indispensable Man as an opportunity rather than a hardship. As Charles De Gaulle said, “the graveyard is full of indispensable men.” The departure of the Indispensable Man creates an opportunity for another man to become indispensable.

The chair will not be empty for long.