–Jack Welch
Imagine, a backup, somebody that isn’t even in the game, rarely plays, sitting on the sidelines and watches, waiting his turn, for 3 years, then he realizes his turn isn’t going to come. So, he decides to leave, to look for a different opportunity and he finds one and with this new opportunity, he becomes the best and proves himself. Introducing Joe Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and Louisiana State University’s (LSU) quarterback. For 3 years he was the backup quarterback for Ohio State University, having thrown all of 39 passes in his 3 years at Ohio State. Once he realized he wasn’t going to get his shot, he entered himself into the transfer portal and became LSU’s quarterback, winning the Heisman. The question you ask is why was he not the quarterback at Ohio State? Didn’t Ohio State realize his potential or were they content with what they had and not look to grow or improve?
Steve Jobs, creator and founder of Apple, Inc, in 1985 was asked to resign as chief executive of Apple by Apple’s board of directors. He did, however, remained as an employee of Apple working on different projects. It was no secret that Jobs it was difficult to work with and this also showed with the board of directors. After Jobs had left, Apple start to lose its place in the technology world. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs had created a company called NeXT, which jobs height as the next evolution of the personal computer. In 1997 Apple purchased NeXT for $429 million, this move brought Steve Jobs back to Apple. Jobs convinced the board of directors to make him the interim CEO and fire the present CEO, which the board did. The upcoming years Steve Jobs diluted the board of directors for Apple, eventually, getting rid of the board of directors giving him total control of Apple, a company he built. Apple had lost their way and the board of directors asked a person, that they had let go, to come back and help revitalize the company only to realize that it was them holding the company back and they couldn’t see the potential that laid before them, Steve Jobs did and the rest is history.
There are many organizations that have this similar problem, people working within the organization that have great leadership, the ability to lead themselves as well as others, but are overlooked by those that make the decisions for the organization, why? Are those in charge comfortable with what they have and unable to imagine the possibilities of leadership within the organization? Or are they afraid a change, for the better, and unwilling to take a chance. If a board is unable to what is possible or is afraid to take a chance to make a change, then maybe they are the one’s to step down! Maybe we should take a page from Apple’s 1997 commercial, narrated by Steve Jobs, and give those with the guts to change a chance:
Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently-they’re not fond of rules … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-Steve Jobs, 1997
The Prepared Student 