WHAT IS LEAGUE LEADERS SYNDROME?

The Nutshell Version

Adapted from help4nonprofits.com

"Look over your shoulder now and then be sure someone's following you."— Henry Gilmer

The New Yorker 7/7/03

THE MAIN SYMPTOM IS THAT DECISIONS ARE NOT COLLECTIVE.

• ALL OTHER PARTIES MERELY RUBBER STAMP

• STRONG RESISTANCE TO ANY CHANGE IN THAT DECISION-MAKING, WHERE THE LEAGUE LEADER MIGHT LOSE HER TOTAL CONTROL OF THE LEAGUE

• BOARDS OF THESE LEAGUES USUALLY DON'T GOVERN, BUT INSTEAD "APPROVE"

• PLANS / IDEAS THAT DO NOT COME FROM THE LEAGUE LEADER USUALLY DON'T GO VERY FAR.

In other words, regardless of the size of the League, everyone who is NOT the League Leader is relegated to the role of support staff to the League Leader.

“So what’s wrong with that?”

HERE’S WHAT’S WRONG…

LEAGUES FACING LEAGUE LEADER’S SYNDROME USUALLY HAVE LITTLE

INFRASTRUCTURE BECAUSE IT SIMPLY HASN’T BEEN NEEDED.

IN THESE SITUATIONS, THE LEAGUE LEADER IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE!

WHAT LEAGUE LEADERS NEED TO KNOW

ONCE YOU HAVE BIRTHED IT, IT IS NO LONGER YOUR BABY.

ONCE YOU GIVE A GIFT, IT’S NO LONGER YOURS.

• ALONG WITH THE DECISION TO BRING A CHILD INTO THE WORLD COMES THE RESPONSIBILITY TO RAISE IT TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY.

• THE WORLD DOESN’T OWE YOU ANYTHING FOR HAVING LED YOUR LEAGUE.

• IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.

SO WHAT IS A LEAGUE LEADER TO DO?

LET’S START WITH THE PERSONAL SIDE:

• ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SOME DAY, THE SPLIT WILL HAPPEN.

• GET HELP. *This is especially important for those of you

who don’t believe you have League Leader’s Syndrome, but have heard it whispered about you.

FROM THE ORGANIZATIONAL SIDE:

A HEALTHY LEAGUE STARTS WITH A HEALTHY BOARD.

• CREATE A SUCCESSION PLAN THAT PROACTIVELY DEALS WITH ALL THE THINGS YOU (OR THE BOARD) ARE SCARED MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN YOU LEAVE

• TRAIN SOMEONE NOW WHO COULD REPLACE YOU, EVEN TEMPORARILY, IN THE EVENT SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU.

"No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen tomanage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings."

— Peter Drucker

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.“ — Theodore Roosevelt

"The task of the leader is to get his [sic] people from where they are to where they have not been."

— Henry Kissinger

"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and no doubt offer a solution everybody can understand.“ — General Colin Powell

"LEADERSHIP CANNOT REALLY BE TAUGHT.

IT CAN ONLY BE LEARNED.“ — Harold Geneen