Just when I was pondering deep over the growing leadership crisis in the best of Indian business groups, one line stayed with me in the course of a re-read of "The Valley of Fear"

The vaccum of sorts that has gripped many of the legendary business houses due to poor succession planning has its roots in the way founders think about growing their organizations. Many among them feel it is all right to be a great visionary and leave the execution to the next rung. While it is undertstandable that a person is born with special traits - some are great at envisioning the big picture while others excel at driving the intricacies of execution, it takes a holistic approach at the top to ensure that the core team is made up of extraordinary talent and temperament - else, the organization loses its value proposition the moment the founder loosens his or her grip in chasing the greener pastures of a more idyllic life.

Focusing on micro issues seems a needless exercise for many founders and leaders but they grossly overlook the fact the micro feeds into the macro faster than they think. For a learning organization, Talent Begets Talent across all levels and the founder must be deeply interested in measuring the traction at each level - else mediocrity finds ingenious ways to spread itself and soon becomes the defining character of the enterprise. Consequently, good talent is demotivated to the point of calling it quits in frustration while the bad apples reign supreme, singing praises of the powers-that-be and making life difficult for the competent and conscientious. The loser is the organization as also the founder who built it in the first place, brick by brick, click by click. Talent begets talent provided it is allowed to take root and gain ground.