Given vs. Earned

Greg was hired from outside to be president of a family-owned distribution company. He had run larger operations as a COO and was energized about this next level. The retiring president, who had held the job for twenty-two years, endorsed him personally, and the board unanimously wanted him. On his first day the office was ready, the welcome announcement was sent, and a stack of contracts sat on his desk waiting for his signature.

Six months later, the stack was taller because business was robust.

And yet, Greg came to our coaching session frustrated. Everything requiring his signature reached him quickly, but none of it required his judgment. His meetings ran cordially and produced little. His team did what he asked and nothing more. Twice he learned about problems only after customers called him directly.

He said, “I've taken over teams before. This is different, and I can't put my finger on it.” For the first time in his career, he felt like a guest at the head of his own table. He had started wondering whether taking the job was a mistake.

I offered him an observation. The company gave him the title in a day. His predecessor's authority took twenty-two years to cultivate. What if people were not withholding respect? What if they were doing what people do with a new leader, waiting to see who he was before deciding what to trust him with?

He looked at the stack. The signature came with the job. The counsel had to be earned. He stopped trying to install himself and started earning his place. During the next quarter, drivers saw him at five in the morning, he sat in on sales meetings, and asked his executives what they would protect about the company before he changed anything. When he made his first major decision, killing an unprofitable product line the founder had loved, he explained his reasoning to the whole company and took questions until there were none left.

Over many months, the stack stayed the same. Contracts still needed a signature, and trust did not change that. What changed was everything around it. The team made most of the calls. The hard ones came to him early, from people who wanted his expertise, not what he could sign.

A title is given in a day. Authority is earned in a hundred moments that no one is required to give you.

The Question

What are you asking your title to do that only trust can do?

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." — Henry Ford