# Chapter 193

Leaders are willing to step out of the way, or even step down for the cause to succeed. Another Lincolnism. If you stay on or in the way regardless of the consequences, then you are just selfish, and not really leading at all. And we all know far too many “leaders” who think it is all about them. You should never ascribe motives and intentions to people, yet you are capable of reading their regular and consistent actions, and when we see “leaders” consistently taking actions that clearly are for their benefit, then we can reasonably assume that they are being stupid for their own benefit. There is no apparent action here that is for the benefit of the cause or the organization, then this is not a leader.

We lived in Eastern Europe for 22 years and they had a special word for such people - the chair! And not just any old chair either, it had to be a chair with arm rests, though I am not sure why. I missed the cultural significance of the armchair bit, but - the chair! The Chair lines his or her own pockets with gold from the company, orders people around, is the big boss, has all the prerogatives, makes all the choices, and is just a general all around bastard looking out for themselves and no one else. This is the antipathy of what we are calling a leader.

The person we admire as a leader is the one who understands what contribution they make to the cause or the org and they are willing to remove anything that prevents the goals of the cause or the org from being reached, including themselves!