Contents
It is generally accepted that being a leader is great. What is power, money, weight in society. But is it right to understand leadership as the ability to command and earn? Who is the real leader? How to become one and whether it is necessary?
Leadership is a topic that has given rise to many myths. For example, that being a leader means being successful. From childhood, we get used to thinking that we need to strive for leadership, and in adulthood we try to achieve the goal, not fully understanding whether we need it.
Why is this happening? Because parents «scare» children who study poorly: «Grow up and become a janitor,» and cinema and social networks paint the image of a leader as a successful and wealthy businessman.
Those who could not create their own success story, «wipers», consider themselves losers. But let’s look at what underlies the myths about leadership and whether those who could not realize themselves as leaders are really losers.
Many training authors insist that a leader can be brought up in everyone. In reality, it’s easy for someone to become the first, while someone puts in a lot of effort, but never succeeds.
The reason is that some are very organic and charismatic in this role — they are given it. These are people who become leaders not only to command others, but also to gather followers around themselves, inspire and motivate them to achieve the goal that the leader himself wants to achieve.
Others are simply not given, and they strive for leadership, deceived by stereotypes about him. Here are 4 misconceptions that confuse people.
1. Leadership is power
In early childhood, parents tell us what to do, how to study, who to be friends with. Accordingly, many children dream of growing up, so that not adults command them, but they themselves command others. So they are trying to become the main ones, confident that the leader is the one who commands people, who has power in his hands.
Abraham Zaleznik argues that a leader is not one who gives orders, but one who has an emotional connection with the team, who has an emotional understanding of the feelings, motives and desires of his subordinates. A leader is someone who can transform the feelings and desires of others into motivation.
In the modern economy, a model based not on simple command, but on leadership in the true sense of the word, becomes more effective. Companies where the «leader» can simply command rely on strict regulation of activities. There is no need to motivate, involve, inspire people. It is enough to follow orders, and for this you need a manager, not a leader.
Leadership is a big responsibility. Imagine a team that consists of completely different personalities — yes, they are united by a common goal, thanks to which they perform certain tasks, but no one has canceled their personal feelings and emotions, everyone has their own problems, their own family difficulties, their unfulfilled ambitions. And people also carry these difficulties to their leader, their leader.
The leader, on the other hand, has his own feelings and emotions, which he must at some point push into the background in order to support his subordinates. However, modern leadership is based rather on a balance of personal and team interests, which, however, is difficult to achieve in a crisis situation.
2. The leader rests on his laurels
In fact, high results are always associated with greater responsibility. If the leader does not maintain relationships with partners, does not take on social obligations, and much more, the sustainable state of the business may be in jeopardy.
A true leader never relaxes. This manager can tell himself that he has achieved everything, worked for his image and his reputation — and now it all works for him. The manager stops learning, stops developing, believes that his past achievements are sufficient to maintain successful positions in the future.
A leader never stops learning. He constantly improves himself and works on himself, not only in a professional aspect, but also in a personal one. He knows that it is important for the future to invest in the present and it is impossible to do this from 09.00 to 18.00. Therefore, the leader is always working 24/7.
3. The leader is rich
When you ask people who want to become leaders why they need it, most answer that they are striving to secure financial well-being for themselves. They believe that a lot of money guarantees the opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest.
But the more you earn, the more desires you turn into reality, the faster the feeling of fullness comes. There is a great danger of going into all serious trouble as soon as prosperity reaches a certain limit. It should not be forgotten that the emptiness that people who have a lot of money face is just as terrible as the despair that the poor are plunged into.
If you aspire to leadership as a source of carefree life, be prepared for disappointments, but also for discoveries — there are things that cannot be changed or fixed, even if you have all the money in the world.
4. If you are not a leader, you are a loser.
It is generally accepted that the only worthwhile goal is to become a leader, a leader. But now, in the information age, when there is a need for other competencies, you do not have to strive higher and higher to feel successful.
If you understand that you are not ready to spend your life to prove something to someone, if you do not want to deal with the emotions and motivations of other people, if you are not interested in being in public, constantly maintain an image, if you like to take care of your family , your own hobbies that do not require leadership qualities, listen to yourself. Leadership will not bring you happiness.
There are so many upheavals in life, the future is so uncertain that is it worth wasting time and energy on other people’s dreams, sacrificing everything for a goal that you do not need? If this is a serious sacrifice for you, then it is clearly not worth it. The most important thing is to understand what you need to be happy.
Of course, leadership still appeals to many, but by debunking the misconceptions associated with it, you learn to understand what it can give you and what you will have to sacrifice. And such knowledge is ultimately one of the keys to success.
Remember that a leader is one who is able to build relationships with his followers based on values, motivations and aspirations, and not just on the desire to rule. Those who follow him know that there are others, but they choose him consciously.