You’re almost certainly not a leader. And that’s ok.
There is a plethora of (so called) expert advice around at the moment, telling us how to become better leaders.
I’d like to know why it’s important.
Let’s suppose we agree that leadership is a skill.
Like many skills it can be learned.
Up to a point.
However, like many skills, some people are just naturally better at it than others.
I might be able to learn to run fast. Maybe really fast.
But I’ll never be as good, or anywhere near as fast, as Usain Bolt.
Like so many personal attributes, you only really know good leadership when you see it in action.
There are soft leaders, hard leaders, talkative, quiet, intellectual and purely pragmatic leaders.
Often, the only thing they have in common is the ability to inspire and motivate others to do truly impressive things as a body of people.
And there’s a really good chance that’s not you.
Which is fine.
If you’re a Supervisor, why not focus on being a good Supervisor?
If you’re a Manager, manage.
If you’re a Director, direct.
If you’re a CEO, well, I don’t know what you do…
Find the leaders in your team and let them do their thing.
The best thing about the best teams is that they’re meritocracies.
The person most suited to handle a given task due to their particular abilities is, for the purpose of that task, the leader.
Makes sense, surely.
And, if you can get the best out of your team by giving them the resources they need to get the job done, there’s no need to lead them.
Just stand back and get the hell out of their way.
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