On Deck - My Why

I am proud to announce that today is the official launch of On Deck Leadership Consulting. On Deck’s focus is to build a strong core foundation and provide guidance to the first-time people leader up through the first-time director – the leaders with direct access and impact on your front-line execution. These are also the leaders who will eventually guide your future leaders and move up into roles with a larger span of control and impact. There is so much to learn as a leader, and it starts on day one. In my opinion, there is no better place to invest right now and it’s often the place that is the least supported.

This venture is a long-time dream of mine – fueled by my observations and experiences throughout my career.

·     As a new leader (too) many years ago, I dove right into the business and how to hit goals. I wish now I had the insight I have today on the core skills, I likely would have done a lot of things differently over the next 14 years. 

·     As I transitioned to mentoring and identifying new leaders, I saw these individuals struggle at times because we went straight to the outputs like execution expectations. I wish I had spent more time on the initial core skills needed first. 

·     Once I hit the Executive level, the discussions shifted to succession planning – something many organizations start too late or don’t go deep enough into the waterfall of succession they need to plan for to avoid leadership gaps and negative impact on the business.

Picture a canoe with new leaders on one end and a solid bench of tenured leaders on the other. If one side is weaker than the other, the canoe tips and starts filling up with water (undesirable habits and outputs) and sinks. We can avoid sinking by supporting new leaders better. 

What does success look like? The next time you’re on deck for a new leadership role and someone asks “Are you ready?” – I want you to say without a doubt “Hell Yeah!”

Welcome to On Deck – it’s going to be a great journey!