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There are basically two
kinds of people sitting at the top of any organization. We
usually call them "leaders," but one of them is
really not a leader.
There is the person who feels that they must have control
over all aspects of every situation, they believe that
they have to know the most intimate details of everyone's
job under them, just in case something goes wrong, so they
can rush in and "save the day" when (not if) a
subordinate fails to do their job or bollixes it up.
These are not "leaders" --
they are micro-managers. And, at some point,
they end up being ineffective even at that because they exceed
their span of authority to the point that eventually
something falls through the cracks. Eventually, they burn
out as well.
These are the kind of people that are quite comfortable
taking credit when things go right, but when they go wrong
look for someone else to blame.
The other type of person is one who realizes that they are
at the top to ensure that things get done, not to DO
everything themselves. They recognize that
eventually, you have to trust someone to do their job.
They have learned to DELEGATE
authority to act, while holding the individuals
accountable to them for those actions. They
understand that you cannot delegate RESPONSIBILITY,
only authority.
They trust their people, and the guide their people in the
overall direction the group wishes to go, allowing the
senior members of the team to advise and devise ways to
work.
This person realizes that you tell someone WHAT you want
done, WHEN you want it done. But NEVER, EVER,
HOW you want it done. The "how" is left up
to the person in charge of the task -- otherwise, you do
not need them in the first place.
This person believes that the TEAM deserves credit and
will avoid taking credit personally for work done by their
team; and when blame is to be assigned, publicly they take
the blame as they know the "buck stops
there."
Privately, they hold the team members accountable for not
doing their job(s). (Praise in public, censure in
private.)
Leadership, then, is not so much something that is
inherent in a given personality, as much as it is learned.
However, the ability to TRUST
others, is something that comes with difficulty to many
people.
Far too often, we mistake the first kind as
"leaders" and they are really dictators. More
often than not, we mistake the second kind as weak
leaders, because they tend to spend a lot of time on their
people instead of the task.
The latter group knows that PEOPLE do the work, not
leaders.
I recommend the book: "The 21 Irrefutable Laws
of Leadership" by John C. Maxwell as mandatory
reading for everyone contemplating a position of
leadership.
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