#721 the buck starts here

When I was in New York last week, I facilitated a session at the leadership retreat about responsibility.  The audience was college student leaders, but I used the Target CEO as an example for discussion.

Gregg Steinhafel, Target CEO since 2008, "resigned" in light of the data breach that has plagued Target since Thanksgiving.  He had a 35-year career with the company and had overseen its expansion into fresh groceries and branded credit cards.  He was the top dog, not the IT director or VP over that area.  It led to an interesting discussion about where the buck stops.  

With increasing pressure on CEOs to be on top of operational situations, it would be easy for leaders to become micromanagers and insist on knowing all the details.  The temptation is there for boards to do the same.  This is a worrisome trend.

I believe that leaders will be most effective if they devote their energy to thinking big instead of thinking small.  The details can be handled by others whereas the vision is only left to them.  

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
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