Thoughts on Leadership

Not long ago I read a posting on one of my LinkedIn groups that was titled “The Myths of Leadership”.  The poster went on to say, basically, that all this leadership hype meant that everyone wanted to be a chief and nobody was willing to be Indians anymore.  I was so stunned I didn’t post a response.  I found I couldn’t write one without sounding like I thought the guy was an idiot – which is in fact what I think. 

How, in this day, can anyone still be confused about the difference between leadership and being in charge?   Sure, the buck has to stop somewhere.  But when I run a project or lead a team, I want EVERYONE on it, from my management lieutenants down to the intern maintaining our document repository, to have a clear sense of what s/he means to the success of the enterprise and the knowledge that I want them all to be leaders. 

There are lots and lots of good leadership books out there.  I happen to like Ed Oakley and Doug Krug, who wrote Enlightened Leadership and Leadership Made Simple.  I also like Steven Covey’s Principle-Centered Leadership.  Perhaps I like these precisely because they don’t target higher management.  They address the individual and show how anyone, regardless of title, can lead – by example, by initiative, by communication.

What’s worse, this guy is a consultant.  The FIRST thing a consultant needs to learn (assuming, of course, that s/he knows the subject area) is that consultants never have any real authority.  You have to communicate, cajole, convince.  You have to LEAD, because you can’t order people around.  If you can’t bring people on board and have them all moving toward the same goal, you aren’t going to get anywhere. 

Steven Covey puts it well when he talks about “shared mission and values”.  I suppose there are folks who think that’s pretty hokey, but it really resonates with me.  That’s why, when I’m researching an organization as a potential employer, the first thing I do is see what mission is posted on their website.  It will take more work to find out if they really live that mission, but if there isn’t one there in the first place that’s a huge red flag for me.  Ditto for the consultancy of anyone I would hire to help me solve a problem or implement a project.  I’m sure you can guess that this person’s solo consultancy website has nothing I’d look for.  One thing it does say, without explaining what he means, is “Better People”  Really?  I can’t think of very many things more demoralizing than communicating the attitude “I’m the leader and you’re all followers, so just do what you’re told.”

I went back to look at the discussion on LinkedIn, which is now more than a week old.  He only has one comment, a rambling, quasi-apologetic piece from someone I’ve heard speak at local AITP meetings.  She spent a lot of time talking about how she “looks at leadership differently” and how “we can all agree to disagree”.  True, perhaps, but useless.  I have to go one step farther, and that is, “If that’s your definition of leadership, I don’t want you anywhere near my team.”