Incidental Leadership
Lately, somehow, I have been forced to deal with the study of the phenomena that are determining the fate of our lives by impregnating us with more (abnormal) elements and facets that are affecting our daily lives, our families, and our professional and social lives. The factor that emerges unexpectedly in the study is leadership.
What kind of leadership? Studying the literature on leadership, I found that there is a type of leadership called 'accidental leadership'. Intuitively, this finding seemed to provide a random answer that completes the definition of the problem. According to Jane Benston, 'The Accidental Leader is a common breed of leader. They are those people who don't necessarily set out to become leaders but, through "good luck" or "being in the right place at the right time," fall into the role. Some battle along, trying to work out what this mystical new role requires of them, while others rise to the top, grab the opportunity by both hands, and become superstars in their field'.
I agree with Jane! However, I think there are more attributes related to accidental leadership. David Ivers suggests that "they need to transform from an accidental leader to a 'break-through leader'". I think David is very right. But I think that this transformation should happen very quickly and immediately.
Unfortunately, I have met and faced many accidental leaders during my private and professional life. From my experience, accidental leaders share some common characteristics. First, this type of leadership appears and is created in abnormal situations and places, such as countries in transition where the people are at an insufficient level of education or when hatred towards another national or religious group is active. Their primary ability is to exploit the situations created after major social, political, or economic changes. They are afraid of strong confrontation, they are hidden, they make decisions without a sound and stable basis, they expose false feelings to employees, they listen to and embody rumors and gossips, they receive and use information from low sources, and they have personal problems in recognition of other people's values and sharing values with others. They take all the credit for their personal effort. They use propaganda to humiliate people's lives.
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How do they end?
They mostly end suddenly, not from the crowd but from the visionary individual. I am committed to writing and sharing thoughts with you on the topic of leadership. I think that the time in which we live requires adequate leadership, which unfortunately we do not experience.
Ylber Limani, Prof. Dr.
Serial Entrepreneur | Project Management Professional
11 个月Thanks for sharing this great article Ylber.