If you want to read about leadership, go into any
bookstore. Or search the
Internet. You’ll find millions of
entries online and thousands of copies in bookstores. And every book has the answer. They tell you to be a situational leader, primal leader,
emotionally intelligent leader, servant leader and the list goes on. Yet, many, many people still struggle with
being an effective leader. And
even more people are
stuck with the belief they were not cut out for leadership. How can so much
information on leadership result in so few effective leaders?
Perhaps reading about leadership is analogous to reading a
book on riding a bicycle. If you
read the best selling book on how to ride a bike, you’ll still get on the
bicycle and lose your balance. If
you’re a child, you’ll most likely fall.
Therefore, reading about leadership won’t guarantee your understanding
of leadership.
In addition, people have ideas about what it means to be a
leader. In some cases, it comes
from Hollywood images. Hollywood
often portrays successful CEOs as tough, ruthless, go-getters. On one hand, everyone knows Hollywood
is make believe. At the same time,
those images stick in your head, especially when those images are associated
with success.
Furthermore, there are books that focus on how to intimidate
others. Intimidation is used by
some to demonstrate authority and control. However, while command and control is believed to be
obsolete, it’s still used. Force,
manipulation and intimidation are still tools used by some leaders. In the short-term, they produce
results. In the long-term, they
create unhappy, resentful employees.
And resentful employees have a tendency to get revenge on the boss. This can happen in some of the
best-known enterprises.
With that said, why are some people great leaders? Is it the age-old belief that leaders
are born?
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, he conducted research on people who lost their
parent(s) at a young age. The book
focused on how supposed disadvantages can turn into advantages. He said that if a person lost a parent
by or before the age of 20, that person may have developed effective leadership
skills. The loss of a parent may
require a person to assume a leadership position to handle the family as well
as complex affairs that follow death.
When there’s a sudden death, there’s no training or reading that can be done. The leadership
demands are real time, especially when there are younger siblings
involved.
In Gladwell’s book, he interviewed a number of leaders who
loss a parent at a young age. In
every case, they said the pressure they experienced from their parent’s death
prepared them to handle the pressures at work. They all said they believed that if they were able to handle
their parent’s death, everything else was relatively easy.
While I’m not suggesting everyone go through the extreme of
losing a parent, there’s something to be learned from Gladwell’s research. It seems extreme chaos prepares you to
focus on outcomes instead of leadership styles. As a leader in the face of chaos, you focus on your
intention. Because leaders have to
produce results through others, it becomes imperative to instruct and guide
those you depend on. When facing
chaos, you may not be in a position to lose the people around you. Therefore, you begin to think about
what is in the best interest of everyone involved – stakeholders.
Leadership really can be like learning to ride a bike. When you first learn to ride a bike,
you may be more concerned with not falling. That is like focusing on not using the wrong leadership style. Chaos, like a death in the
family, can force you to suspend thoughts of failing. You’ll only focus on taking care of people around you and
producing the desired outcomes. On
a bicycle, you learn to ride when you focus on getting from point A to point
B. And that is leadership, moving the
team or company from start to final outcome. The most effective people do that by taking into
consideration: what is in the best interest of all involved. The moment you attempt to put that into
a formula you’re no longer leading.
You’re focused on some image of what it means to be a leader.
Ultimately, there’s no perfect leadership style. While circumstances can shape you, no two situations will be the same.
In many cases, you’ll be making it up as you go. If you focus on the outcome and take
care of the people around you, success is more likely to become your companion
on the leadership journey.
What do you
think? I would love to hear your feedback. And I’m open to ideas. Or if you
want to write me about a specific topic, let me know.
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