When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You're Stuck, and What to Do About It

9.2. No Heroes, Please

Some CEOs are famous for leading by dictatorial resolve or sheer force of personality. Jack Welch at General Electric, Steve Jobs at Apple, Richard Branson at Virgin, and a handful of others are so intelligent, so focused, and so charismatic, it seems they have little problem ensuring that their visions are achieved. But leaders like these are rare, and their companies will be no better off than yours once they move on. And I suspect that, if you were to ask them, each of these leaders would be the first to tell you that they can't do it all alone.

Several years ago, I had an afternoon to kill in Seattle and called on an executive at Starbucks whom I'd met at a marketing conference. She graciously offered to give me a ...