Passing It On: Growing Your Future Leaders (15 page)

T
HE MEETING BEGAN
promptly at 10 a.m. as the chairman of the board entered the room. I looked around and surveyed the assembled members, confidently
sitting in fifteen high-back, leather chairs around a beautiful mahogany table that filled the room. Their collective wisdom
represented decades of experience. The chairman took his seat and motioned to a young man who seemed intimidated by the evidence
of age in the many silver heads in the room, confirming his youth and inexperience.

“Good morning, everyone! This is Mr. Femi Odeyo, our new productdevelopment manager who will take us into the future and keep
our company on the cutting edge.”

To what seemed to be less-than-enthusiastic applause, the manager, dressed in his blue jeans, casual sport coat, and multicolored
necktie, rose and gave a slight bow of respect to these corporate giants in this hallowed hall.

“Good morning, gentlemen and ladies! I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to join a team of such distinguished
colleagues, leading a company that has broken all records in our industry. It is my hope that I will add to the progressive
spirit that has driven this company to the heights it has enjoyed for so many years, and I look forward to working with and
learning from you.”

With a slight smile on his face, the chairman invited the new executive to present his first proposal to the board for its
review and consideration. He walked to the front of the boardroom, activated the projector for his PowerPoint presentation
and began unveiling the new concept and product for the company’s next cycle. As the presentation progressed, the audience
became quiet and then restless. Grunts and deep breaths escaped the mouths of board members. Obviously, the reaction to the
new manager’s fresh ideas was shock, awe, disbelief, and suspicion. Eventually you could almost cut the tension in the room
with a knife.

He concluded his talk and then opened the floor to questions and comments. After a long hesitation, one hand went up, and
as if a dam had broken, members began blurting out their responses and queries.

“This is a complete departure from our traditional product line and may cause confusion in the minds of our long-time customers,”
said one board member.

“And how do you intend to convince the down-line managers to buy into this new approach?” asked another board member.

“I am deeply concerned that this new idea may change the reputation we have in the marketplace and threaten our long-standing
history as a conservative company,” said still another member.

“All great leaders at some time have been considered mavericks, rebels, and nonconformists.”

Soon it was clear to the chairman that the board’s response to the new associate’s ideas was as expected. Tapping his fingers
on the dark, wooden table to get the attendees’ attention, he began: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly why I appointed
Mr. Femi Odeyo to this position, to challenge our set ideas and open this company to new horizons. We are here in the room
not to protect or worship history but to make history. I support his proposal and hope we all will be willing to open the
closed windows of our minds to let in some fresh air that will inspire us all to go places we have never been. Let us give
him a hand for leading us to the future.”

This story is as old as time and is repeated in every organization, every country, and every generation. It is the principle
of the maverick. A maverick
is somebody who is always asking the wrong question at the wrong time and introducing something that destroys all tradition.
There is at least one in every organization, in every staff meeting. You know who they are.

A maverick can embarrass you. He or she will come to you and say, “Why does the company still put up with this problem? It
would be so easy to fix.”

“Well, we have been trying to solve that for forty years. We have tried everything. It just cannot be done,” you say.

“On the contrary, if we just do that and do this, this, this, and that, it will be solved. Let me try,” the maverick says.

In two days the maverick reports that the problem you have not been able to resolve in four decades is now history.

Are you thinking, “I hate that show-off ”?

Imagine that you have just hired a recent graduate of one of the finest colleges for an entry-level position in information
systems. She came highly recommended and earned a master’s degree in computer science with honors. As part of her orientation,
you invite her to observe an upper-level management meeting. Instead of sitting quietly, she asks several questions. Finally,
she butts in to suggest that your method of tracking shipments is outmoded but that she could correct it easily, if you adopt
the new software she created in graduate school.

You immediately dismiss the suggestion and take umbrage at her impudence. You are thinking, “Who is she to question my managerial
decisions?”

You blurt out: “Well, we have always done it that way. This is a longstanding practice here at ABC Manufacturing. It’s been
our policy, and here come you people just out of school with your half-baked, new-fangled ideas and glitzy technology.”

Not only is this probably embarrassing to her, but also it is bad for the company. You might have alienated and stifled the
one person who could assure the continued success of the company, quadruple profits, and expand operations into global markets.
This could be your successor. Admit it. She reminds you a little bit of yourself at that age when you had just come into the
company. Right?

Back then, you quickly gained a reputation for being a bit of a maverick, and you still pride yourself on having an independent
streak. Now when others come forward with innovative ideas and unconventional tactics, you tend to shut them out and push
them out of the company. A maverick will test
your capacity to remain civil and polite. We do not want anyone around us smarter than us. We have these kids coming out of
college now with a degree in cyberspace and Internet science, and you are just trying to type with one finger. They are in
your department, and they make more money than you do and you have been there for fifty years. You are wary of them because
they are mavericks.

Who needs those troublemakers? You do because they are the leaders of tomorrow. Failure to make room for mavericks is among
the main reasons we do not reproduce leaders. Do not become jealous of mavericks. Embrace them. Do not be afraid of new ways
of doing things. Adopt them immediately. That is very important. The maverick is the one who will bring progress to the company.
Progress is never born by traditionalists. It is birthed by those who break tradition. If you are going to develop good leaders,
you will have to make room for those who make you think.

Instead, we often try to silence them, rein them in, or push them out. In doing so, we stifle creativity, growth, and progress.
We run the risk of seeing our own success, our legacy, die with us. Our culture reinforces conformity and discourages self-discovery.
All great leaders at some time have been considered mavericks, rebels, and nonconformists. Nonconformity is a requirement
of leadership.

Mavericks are the ones who go beyond what others have done and make history. Jesus was a maverick. John the Baptist certainly
was a maverick. The Virgin Mary was a maverick. Martin Luther King Jr. was a maverick. Mahatma Gandhi was a maverick. Eleanor
Roosevelt was a maverick. Bill Gates is a maverick. Hillary Clinton is a maverick. Barack Obama is a maverick. The list is
long, and it is hard to think of any great leader who does not fit the bill.

The term
maverick
itself comes from the last name of a Texas rancher who did not follow the tradition of branding his cattle, as everybody
around him did, which caused trouble and controversy among his neighboring ranchers. The word has come to mean independently
minded.

“Maverick” generally describes a person or a personality who interjects
new, untested, unconventional ideas into an environment. People like this do not allow the traditions and conventions of an
organization or a company to entrap them. Usually a younger person comes in with fresh ideas because he or she is not immersed
in the historical traditions of the organization. These mavericks are, therefore, willing to test the boundaries or push the
envelope. They are willing to gore some sacred cows to try new ideas. This naturally threatens the status quo.

Mavericks are usually agents of change. Change is healthy for any organization because change is the only component in life
that is inevitable. Whether we initiate change or become victims of change, change will win. One benefit of having the spirit
of the maverick in your operation is that it can make you an initiator of change, a cultivator of change, and an agent of
change rather than a victim of change. A wise manager will not suffocate the maverick, but will encourage the spirit of exploration,
experimentation, and innovation without feeling threatened. The wise mentor may even recognize that he was once a maverick
himself.

The greatest mentor of all time, Jesus Christ, not only embraced mavericks but also challenged His mentees to think beyond
the norm and break traditions. He was not intimidated by questions, but encouraged them. In fact, He was a maverick who challenged
the traditional leaders of His day with unsettling questions. He never accepted the norm, but created new norms. He defied
tradition and introduced new paradigms that we are still working with two thousand years later. Not only was Jesus a maverick,
but He also created and attracted mavericks.

Look at the way Peter challenged Him on occasion. Peter was the one who resisted when Jesus washed the feet of His dining
companions. When it was his turn, Peter had a problem with this. Washing someone’s feet was something a servant should have
been doing. By the time Peter’s turn came, he was so uncomfortable with the idea of the Master washing his feet that he decided
to say something. Of course he did. He was a maverick. “Master, you do not have to wash my feet,” he said.

The Gospel John describes the scene this way.

John 13:3–9
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so
he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing,
and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying
them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my
feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall
never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not
just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

It is interesting that Christ’s student Simon Peter was not only His mostoutstanding maverick, but also was in His intimate
mentoring program. The ultimate leader Jesus Christ chose twelve men to mentor, but from among those He selected three for
a more intimate level of training. From among those three, Simon Peter was arguably the most challenging. Yet Jesus chose
him to take responsibility for the future of the organization. He demonstrated that if you want to secure the future, you
must give it to the maverick.

Peter had quickly turned around after Jesus corrected him on the footwashing issue, but the mentee’s first instinct was to
challenge Him. Even after Jesus chose Peter to carry on and build His church, Peter questioned what Jesus was saying about
His departure.

Matthew 16:18–23
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. From that time
on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders,
chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things
of God, but the things of men.”

Peter was different in many ways. He was always coming up with ideas. At the Transfiguration of Jesus, he wanted to build
tents honoring Jesus, Moses, and Elijah (see Mark 9:5). Then he was the one who cut off the ear of a servant to one of the
soldiers who came to take Jesus, and he alone followed them to where they took Jesus for trial.

John 18:10–11
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s
name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Each time Peter would challenge Him or act out, Jesus would correct him, even telling him he was full of the devil. Peter
was the mentee, Jesus the mentor. Jesus knew Peter was a maverick. Ultimately, He chose the maverick to carry on His leadership.

Make room for the maverick. That should be the first one you mentor. Seat the maverick right next to you in the board meeting.
Listen to everything this young innovator has to say. Encourage mavericks to speak their minds. New ideas will spring from
them.

You will also have to put up with someone who may be difficult to mold, somewhat of a misfit, impossible to silence, and eager
to move ahead. In the final analysis, you might not pick the maverick to succeed you, but take this rebel under your wing,
learn from him, and encourage him to use his gifts to help carry out your vision. Your company, agency, or organization will
be better for it.