Blake sent Jack an email and was not surprised by the response: See you Thursday morning at 10:00-usual location.
As Blake had done many times before, he made the drive to Gresham Park. From his new address, on the other side of the state, the drive was a little shorter. Blake knew the routine-find the crowd, and he would find Jack.
Just as on other visits, Blake found the table at which Jack was holding court, schooling some unsuspecting opponent on the finer points of the game of chess. The pristine, fall weather seemed to have increased the crowd of onlookers.
"Checkmate," Jack said in a tone reflecting both excitement and humility. He had won again as he most often did here in the park; grandmasters don't have many legitimate rivals in this setting. The crowd offered what might be described as a "chess clap"-a golf clap but slightly more subdued.
As the latest student left the table wondering what had just happened, and how it happened so quickly, Jack addressed the crowd, "That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. See you next week."
As soon as he had finished speaking, he stepped toward Blake and gave him a big hug. "How are you?"
"Good, not great-better now. It's fantastic to see you," Blake said.
"Sit down, sit down. I heard about the accident. Are you okay?"
"Shaken, for sure. Actually, if I'm honest…devastated. Jack, six people died! Six of my employees."
"I understand, but, Blake, it was your first day on the job. You're good, but you're not that good. There's no way you could have prevented this tragedy. But…" Jack paused. "You know you can prevent the next one."
"I hope so," Blake said.
"Hope is not a strategy." This was not the first time Jack had reminded Blake of this truth.
Hope is not a strategy.
"You know what to do."
"Yes, I do. I should lead."
"Damn right-you should lead! Anything else? Are we done here?" Jack asked.
"I just wanted to test a couple of assumptions as I begin this journey."
"Okay, since you're here."
"I know there are four moves that enable high performance: Bet on Leadership, Act as One, Win the Hearts, and Excel at Execution."
"Correct. Those haven't changed."
"I just want to be sure I do this right."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to screw this up. My last company was tiny compared to this one. There was no media coverage of my last assignment!" Blake paused, "And, now the accident…. This feels different."
"The scope, scale, and complexity may be different, but the way forward is not. When you refer to 'doing this right,' you need to get that out of your head. The four moves work every time. However, how you apply them, the actual tactics, will be determined by the circumstances you face."
"Okay. I thought that's what you would say."
"What's your plan?" Jack asked.
"Well, in addition to providing counseling for all the employees, and physically rebuilding a large portion of the plant, I plan to continue learning all I can about the business and the people, and I'm going to Bet on Leadership."
"Why?"
"I know if we don't crack the code on the leadership challenge, we'll never execute on the other moves. And, as far as I could tell during the first couple of weeks, we have virtually no bench strength. The most prominent example is Sally, the former head of HR. After the accident, she decided not to return, and it doesn't appear as though we have anyone to fill her seat from the inside."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure of what?"
"Sure no one inside can step up?"
"No, I'm not. I've only been on board two weeks, and it's been a little bit crazy!"
"Well, I would suggest you try an interim, even a consultant, until you're sure. If your instincts are correct and you don't have anyone inside, you can always go outside."
"Got it. I may call you and ask for another meeting."
"I hope you will; it's always great to see you. Please tell Megan and the kids I said hello."
"Any parting wisdom?"
"Have fun-don't let this hard season steal your joy."
On the drive back to the office, Blake thought about Jack's advice to appoint an interim or hire a consultant to help with the leadership bench issue to give him time to learn more about the talent he already had within the organization. As his mind scrolled through the most talented HR people he knew on the planet, one name rose to the top.
