If we are concerned with the future of work (and we should be), one of the areas we need to be looking at is the effectiveness of our leaders from a succession planning perspective.

This isn’t strictly in the HR sense of making sure we have a leadership pipeline, but more so in asking, “How are our current leaders creating leaders of the future?”.

I think this is an important metric that doesn’t get enough attention and is critical to the future of work.

In his book, Superbosses, Sydney Finkelstein offers a new angle on what we would consider great leadership to be about.  He presents an idea that great leaders (or superbosses) are those that create generations of great leaders.

The idea is that they create and develop future leaders and thinkers.  People who worked with Larry Ellison, Ralph Lauren,Steve Jobs, etc. have gone on to do amazing things in their own right.  

AND….these Superbosses don’t always follow the leadership rules around what is often described as  great leadership.  In fact, Finkelstein coined the phrase “Glorious Bastards” as even though they were sometimes described as difficult to work with, their legacy is undeniable.  Note: This does not give permission to be a glorious bastard as there were also two other categories of leaders, Nurturers and Iconoclasts.  

To test the thinking in a more local context, I asked my husband, “Who would be considered a Superboss in the world of Australian Football?” “Which leader or coach, has been at the root of the development of other great coaches/players or leaders?”

He immediately responded with, “Alistair Clarkson, the current head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club.”

The following people were assistant coaches under him, and are now head coaches at their own clubs:

Craig Bolton – Carlton

Luke Beveridge – Western Bulldogs

Adam Simpson – West Coast Eagles

Damien Hardwick – Richmond

Leon Cameron – Greater Western Sydney

Not a bad record.

I think Paul Roos is also shaping up to be a Superboss with former assistant coaches like Ross Lyons, former head coach of St Kilda and now Fremantle as well as John Longmire who is the head coach of Sydney Swans.

What is the leadership lineage of your organisation?  Can it be traced back to a few Superbosses?