Just My E-pinion
By Steven M. Horner, SPHR
Today’s guest columnist suggests that we’d have better business leaders if we made them get licenses to keep their jobs.
Did you ever think about all of the service providers you come in contact with … barbers, accountants, lawyers, electricians, insurance agents, and so on? All of these professionals are required to obtain a license in order to practice their trade.
The requirements vary. In some cases, there is a rigorous examination process, while in others, it’s just an administrative process. For many professionals there is also a continuing education requirement to maintain their license. And if one of these individuals does something illegal or just plain negligent, they may very well lose their license and be prohibited from practicing their trade.
Now let’s look at our business leaders. Oftentimes, organizations promote people because of how effective they were in their respective discipline or function. So if someone was a great customer service representative, they are promoted to customer service manager. A great attorney earns a promotion to become general counsel, and the top salesperson earns the title of sales manager. The problem is that just because someone was an effective individual contributor does not mean he or she will be an effective leader.
A Dramatic Negative Impact
When leaders are ineffective, they have a dramatic negative impact on the people that report to them and often on their peers, too. The sad thing is that most of the time the ineffective leader has no idea how miserable he or she is making these people, not to mention the financial damage done to the organization. Ineffective leaders have a clear and definite impact on employee turnover, morale, productivity, and quality.
When a manager damages or loses company property such as a laptop, car, ID card, or certain proprietary information, he or she is held responsible and is usually requested to fill out some forms and explain what happened to the property. But what happens when a manager looses an employee–supposedly an organization’s most valuable resource? There’s usually no form to fill out and no accountability. The mission instead becomes filling the open position as quickly as possible so that the ineffective leader can make someone new miserable!
How different organizational life would be if all leaders had to pass a competency test and obtain a state license before they could practice their trade! They might initially be issued a temporary “permit” but, in order to qualify for a permanent license to lead, they would have to satisfy certain criteria, such as earn a certain score on a 360-degree assessment or be “checked out” by a panel of leadership experts.
Most of us wouldn’t think of allowing someone who isn’t licensed to cut our hair. But we don’t think twice about turning over the keys to a major project, a department, or even a company to someone who isn’t a proven leader. And when it is finally realized that a leader is not effective, it often takes a long time, sometimes years, to relieve them of their duties.
Interesting, isn’t it?
When Steve Horner isn’t writing provocative e-pinions, he’s a longtime organizational effectiveness consultant with Horner & Associates, LLC, in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. E-mail him at Steve.horner@comcast.net or call 215-513-0312.
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Column is copyrighted 2007, Steven M. Horner. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
We have so many licensed idiots, phd’s mba, etc. who bring very little value to the table. Our own President, who is highly degreed, is under fire, and he is the ultimate leader. Arnold our Governor is a SAG member and has no formal business training. nor did Ronald Reagan, who was a great President. No, I do not agree with your stupid article, it speaks to priorities being too screwed up today.
All it does accomplish is isolating people who are natural talents in many areas who make up for much of entrepenurship our country has enjoyed, and create layers for people who believe formal education is the end all.
Patricia Lewis
Licensing business leaders is like trying to herd cats. You can teach all the management theory you want, but it is practiced differently in every company, no matter how you teach it. But, let’s try this one on.
Why not license all HR professionals? SHRM has a certification programa that has a definitive body of knowledge and about 86,000 are certified so far. But, if certification is the equivalent of a professional designation such as LLB, MD, etc. then let’s really make HR a professional practice and not allow anyone assigned to the professional staff of an HR department practice HR unless they are certified. That would soon separate the pros from the amateurs and those who believe that you can “learn HR” as opposed to getting a degree in HR and then be certified.