All leadership is temporary. Sooner or later, someone else will occupy the position you are currently in. One of the jobs of the leader is to push that day as far into the future as possible. Unfortunately, this did not happen for Matt Ruhle, head football coach of the Carolina Panthers. On Monday, October 10th, the team decided to go in another direction and relieved Ruhle of his duties.
The question is why? The answer is the primary reason leaders lose their positions.
In an interview on the33rdteam.com, former head coach Mike Martz said, “Offensively they’re just not doing anything… If you’re not an offensive head coach, your coordinator needs to really be tuned in to developing a quarterback… That’s what they were hoping when they brought (Baker) Mayfield in… He’s not done well at all.”
John Maxwell’s Law of the Inner-Circle teaches us that those closest to the leader determine the success of the leader. Coach Ruhle is a good football coach. He knows the game and will be on everyone’s short list for top upcoming college jobs.
But at the end of the day, the primary reason Coach Ruhle lost his job was he and his staff’s failure to develop its on-field leader, the quarterback. Coach Ruhle’s success was directly tied to Baker Mayfield and your success as a leader will be directly tied to your ability to develop your inner-circle of leaders.
Your inner-circle are like elevators. They will either take you up or bring you down. So if your inner-circle is not helping you and your organization achieve its full potential, you have two options. One, start developing them today. Or two, be replaced like Coach Ruhle.
The choice is yours.
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