LEADERSHIP
Leadership We Need Now
The search for leaders we can believe in to lead us where we need to go
A few years ago, I considered the idea that leadership is far less about position than it is about influence. The evidence convinced me programs focused on leadership development might not be the answer either. With $166 billion spent annually on leadership development and 85% of employees not engaged at work, perhaps the pathway to effective leadership is not found doing what the experts and corporate programs teach.
I believe each of us can lead better, achieve more, and make lasting changes that improve the lives of people.
Taking responsibility for your own leadership development is the first step. Believing in yourself is empowering. It places your feet on the pathway to become a leader others can believe in.
Wake up
Time to wake up and look around. Here’s my experience.
Over time, the pain I saw in others was too much for me to bear so I knew if I couldn’t change others at least I could work to change myself.
As my eyes opened to new ways of thinking, I examined the practices of people I was following. I became deeply concerned about how those in charge were leading. I recognized that too many people were being crushed by authoritarian and coercive practices.
This isn’t to say that most people in charge don’t want to do well; they probably do. My conclusion is most haven't sufficiently developed the tools they do have and resort to power when they are under pressure.
Because leadership isn’t a checklist, we expect too much from programs and those that deliver them. A certificate from a leadership course is a bit laughable if that is evidence of being considered a leader. Want to know the quality of the leader? Watch who follows and ask them why.
Sadly, there are some bad apples. The worst of the lot know how to wield great power to bend the will of others to theirs. They even practice how to sway and manipulate situations to their personal benefit. Often holding the biggest titles, they rely heavily on their position to accomplish their goals. It doesn’t seem to matter if the results hurt their clients or people that work for them.
Embarrassingly, I used to think that a title makes one a leader. That is what I was taught and the leadership approach modeled for me early in my career. I didn’t know or even consider there could be another way until I woke up.
Level up
Now that you are awake. Time to take responsibility to level up. No one will make you a leader. You need to earn permission to lead; especially if you have a title.
Transformation occurs day by day. Dedicate time to your own leadership development. Read, listen, study, discuss, contribute, and practice. Explore your creativity and find others that are doing it. Identify what you do well and amplify those areas immediately. Uncover what you do poorly and find answers to correct or reduce any negative impacts your behaviors have on others. Study people you admire based on your own core values and how they lead. Define your own guiding principles and even consider writing a personal mission statement and developing your own story.
As you become more self-aware, learn, and lean into your guiding principles you may discover you now have a compass to guide you. As you encounter new situations you will be better prepared to apply what you have learned.
Last thoughts
The search for leaders we can believe in to lead us where we need to go is an important quest. If you have been looking for a leader worth following and have been unsuccessful for many years, perhaps the leader you have been waiting for is you. Becoming the type of leader I describe requires sacrifice and takes time. You must accept that becoming an exemplary leader doesn’t happen in a day. It happens daily and the evidence it is working comes from the individuals choosing to follow.
Shepherding is the art of becoming the leader others want to follow.
