Are You a Replaceable Leader
I started my career in the last integrated steel mill built in the United States. It was my first full-time engineering job after college.
It was a good experience. I made the most of what I could with the people I had surrounding me.
Why does that feel negative?
I walked in as a 22-year-old in a group that was made up of mostly 50–60-year-olds. Most of them did not have any education past high school and my boss only had a two-year degree.
I have never been a degree snob BUT they were definitely envious of me having a degree. And they often threw it in my face.
All of them had started their career out of high school as hourly guys. Over time they proved that they were the best workers and someone in management chose them to be a turn foreman, rotating shift supervisor, over other hourly guys. Some even became day foremen. And a few rose to the senior foreman level.
What was interesting to note is how they moved up in rank. Their rise in positions was due to their knowledge and seldom due to their leadership abilities. This is why a minuscule number ever became general foreman, leader of the department.
They were very insecure and felt that any information they possessed should not be shared with anyone. That knowledge was job security and why would they give it away.
Let me give you an example…
I was once assigned to learn how to do our department’s monthly electrical billing for each mill in the plant. The guy who was to teach me how spent two days just clicking in several spreadsheets and did not share what he was doing and why. Even when asked direct questions. NOt surprisingly, he took the work home and completed it at night in order not to train me. So after a few attempts at the end of the month, I told my boss that he was not training me and I refused to waste my time. He said OK and did nothing or said nothing to the guy that was supposed to train me.
Interestingly the guy that would not train me got sick a few months later and could not do the work anymore. But even that experience did not teach my boss to make sure someone else was trained to do the work. He simply started doing the work himself.
My boss, the general foreman, seldom would share any information UNLESS he needed me to solve a problem for him. I would say that 99% of what I learned in the steel mill was due to my own struggles to understand how things worked and figuring it out to solve plant problems.
In my opinion, my boss was not worried about being replaced by me BUT he knew that my future could include being his boss. He hated that idea. And that is why he went out of his way to not train me. I was the obvious replacement for him and he thought that was the only path up.
After 6 years I reached the engineering manager level, the same level as my boss, and he blatantly showed his displeasure. He went out of his way to sabotage me. Once when I was away for a week to train new engineers in statistical process control he erased my hard drive. Not only did I lose a lot of company information BUT also a lot of personal files.
So I personally felt the pains of being surrounded by people that had risen to front and mid leadership levels and eventually learned that they were stuck. Their future was the role they were in and will eventually retire from.
Those negative experiences helped form my opinion that leaders need to be able to train people. They need to be able to hire well and then train the person for the uniqueness of the role that they need to be filled. Along the learning path, the leader needs to correct the work. Eventually, the leader should reach a level of trust in the employee to simply leave them to do their jobs.
The second lesson I learned was the need for a replacement. Whether it was the silly guy protecting their turf or my boss, having a designated replacement should be mandatory.
What should not be lost is that the leader needs to train their replacement. The replacement should be ready to step in and do the work. Not part of the work BUT completely do the job.
I spoke with one of my former bosses yesterday and he told me that he left the company at which we worked together. His replacement is his boss. WOW!!! What is interesting is that his boss is incompetent. He has never successfully managed a project in his career and is now managing a group of senior project managers.
When I have been in leadership roles I have always designated a replacement and made sure that they knew how to do my job. This is because of my painful past BUT also for selfish reasons. If I have a replacement then I can move up to the next level if that position becomes available. And in return, the company makes a smooth transition without creating a large vacuum for months.
By making yourself replaceable not only do you and the company succeed BUT it allows for growth. And if things do not work out, as they often do, being able to tell the story of how you developed people for your role is often appreciated and rewarded by many companies.
My four cents…
