Don’t Let Peter Get You

Peter Lurking

Meet Peter.

He is a force to be reckoned with.

He silently follows you around. Lurking. He watches you when you aren’t looking. He waits patiently. And then he strikes when you least expect him.

Peter is not a person.

Peter is a principle.

Peter’s principle is that he will let you get promoted up until your level of incompetence. And for most senior leaders, that’s far too late.Because when leaders get promoted to their level of incompetence they lose their confidence. They become stuck. Even worse, there’s a multiplier effect because incompetent leaders make incompetent decisions. As a result, leaders in the chain below them are forced to lead at lower levels too.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There is a path to senior leadership that can help avert the hay day that Peter wants to create. It’s a path that involves 4 shifts in mindset that help a leader balance both results and relationships so that ultimately they can unite the people around him.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing about 3 of those 4 shifts. Stay tuned so that Peter doesn’t get you.