A couple of my colleagues tweeted recently about a topic that is probably top of mind for all of us when our organizations are hiring a new leader: who will be my next boss? Since we have just launched this recruitment to find my successor I thought it was time to put in a few of my thoughts on the topic reflecting both what I’ve learned about NAG and myself in the last 20+ years. 

You can explore the briefing packet via the link below. Before you throw your hat into the ring, you might give some thought to whether it’s the right job for you: 

Values? 

NAG's are honesty, integrity, respect and quality. If you are presented with a problem and your first thought isn't "what's the right thing to do?", this isn't the job for you. 

Culture? 

We collaborate internally and externally to help our customers. If your model is "go it alone and control everything", this may not be the job for you. 

Exit Strategy? 

NAG has no shareholders to receive dividends. Our profits get reinvested in our products & projects, and in our people. If you think the CEO's job is to prepare the company for sale, cash out, and move on to the next gig, this definitely isn't the job for you. 

Yardsticks? 

NAG measures its progress by our ability to help customers solve difficult problems and how we cultivate the next generation of practitioners. If you need to keep score another way, Houston, we may have a problem. 

A Breed Apart? 

If you think that CEOs deserve special treatment because they are smarter than everybody else, I have a host of colleagues who will politely disagree. NAG won't be your cup of tea. 

Diversity and Life Skills? 

Speaking of tea, on any day at NAG you can drink black tea, green tea, iced tea, fresh roasted coffee or expresso. Our 75+ people work at 16 or so locations around the globe. Drinking and eating what the “locals” do is a great way to learn about more than food and drink. Ah, and if you haven't learned to sleep on airplanes, this might not be for you. 

Mindset? 

If "servant leadership" and "self-support" are foreign concepts to you, NAG will be as well. Everybody at NAG knows the meaning of the word "egalitarian". 

Leadership Style?

If your style runs to hierarchical, top-down leadership you might be advised to start your own company. The same can be said for "revolutions". NAG has thrived on nearly continuous "evolutions". 

If you are still reading, maybe NAG really is for you. Learn more here   

Postscript 

One of the ways I can delineate the parts of my professional career is this: hoping to be a CEO and being a CEO. One of the few truly annoying aspects of the latter is how the media and some CEOs and their Boards seem to have drunk the Kool-Aid and believe that people who do this are priceless unicorns, endowed with mystical powers. Spoiler Alert: they aren’t. If they seem really good at it, it may be because they are good at surrounding themselves with highly intelligent and hard-working people, readily recognize the achievements of their teams and give credit where it is due. 

Future Blogs: 

• Is there a life after being a CEO? 
• My heroes
• A slightly cynical view of books about CEOs