The real leaders

Chapter 356

“The people you’re leading want to know that you’re the kind of leader who shares the blame and gives away the credit. It’s not easy to accomplish, but it’s a hallmark of the best leaders.” - Lolly Daskal 

What Lolly is describing here is the kind of leader we all want to work for, the kind of leader we want every leader to be, the kind of leader we are supposedly aspiring to be, and the kind of leader that is far too rare. Those number don’t add up. Why? Well she pointed that out too, its not easy to accomplish.

I run a Leadership Think Tank, actually a Leadership Development service, and the kinds of “leaders” I find are far far away from this ideal. They think of leadership as privilege - for them. They see leadership as perks and advantages - for them. They will penny-pinch you and your department to death, yet splurge big time on their rental car, their hotel room, their meal while traveling so they can bill it back to the company. They will openly diminish every project and other leader that is not under their prevue, while shamelessly promoting all their cronies. And you and I could go on and on with all these pork-belly practices that our leaders do . . . and I don’t take any of these kinds of leaders on as clients. And lets be honest, these kinds of “leaders” never believe they need development anyways. 

While the majority of leaders may be this way, there are clearly those that are not. Those who hold themselves accountable before any one else, those are the real leaders. Those who never ask someone to do what they are unwilling to do, are the real leaders. They share (or take) the blame and give most of the credit away if not all. Be one of those kinds of leaders.