Amplifiers

4Finding and Developing Leaders, Followers, and Amplifiers

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

When Doug McMillon started at Walmart at the age of sixteen unloading trucks, it seems unlikely that anyone in the Walmart chain of command saw him as the future CEO.¹ Of course, very few entry-level employees will work their way up to the top spot at a company, but how many are passed up because nobody takes the time to better understand the true potential of these individuals?

The best leaders invest in talent. This is one of the greatest responsibilities that leaders have. They commit professionally and personally to developing their followers, and the followers that invest in their own development get the most attention. Leaders need to take the first ...