Powell On the Indispensable Employee

My folks at the previous place would do well to hear Powell's words.. especially Kendall Wilhelmshaver :

I have run into too many people in public life who thing they turn on the sun every morning. If not for them, there would be no light and heat. I have run into too many people who have long passed their sell-by date and don't accept it's time to leave. I have run into too many leaders who have never given a thought to succession or building a leadership team in depth. Too many leaders are too insecure to face those realities.

And I have run into too many leaders who have not faced the reality that it is the indispensable person who is holding their organization back. Leaders have an obligation to constantly examine their organization and prune those who are not performing. The good followers know who the under-performers are. They are waiting for the leader to do something about them. When necessary pruning is not done, good followers often slack off. But when it is done successfully, black clouds lift from over the team. Even the best, most treasured, most successful members of the team can lose their edge and become under-productive. Leaders need to be able to replace anyone who is no longer up to the task. Don't reorganize around a weak follower. Retrain, move or fire them. Then you are doing that person a favour in the long term and you are doing your team a favour immediately.