Leader pays the bill

Why would anyone want to be a leader - a people leader to be precise?

Yes, it's cool and fancy. Yes, you get many privilege. Yes, power fuels our ego.

But, there are many but's as well...

It's not new that leaders are the ones who pay all the bills - sometimes positive, sometimes not. However in our age much more loaded on the shoulders of leaders. This makes leadership more difficult, less accessible, not preferred, much stressful and maybe less fair as well.

What I mean with these bills ??

?? People don't leave companies, they leave leaders. This makes leader responsible to keep all his/her people all the time happy, empowered, motivated etc.

?? When we talk about employee engagement, organizations expect leaders to enable the full potential of the employees while keeping them fulfilled and engaged.

?? Psychological safety is one of the must-have's of a successful organization. And guess what, it all depends on the leaders if employees feel safe to speak up.

?? If we look at employee experience journey, from recruitment to exit phase people leader is always at the wheel and can turn the journey towards an iceberg or an island.

?? Needless to say that leaders are the ones who give account first if the targets are not met, and sometimes punished heavily on that.

So which side of the scales is heavier ? This balance (or unbalance) depends on two things: one is again the leader - what kind of personality s/he has, how dedicated s/he is on this role, if s/he is ready and equipped to become a leader. And the second thing is the organizational culture - how the company approaches to leadership, how much they invest on the leaders, how fair they treat the leaders.

If we expect real and sustainable success, then the bill should be paid through "German style" as it's called. Leaders or leader candidates should be aware of what kind of an important role they're stepping in and what it entails, how they should be prepared and how they should stay ahead. And companies should be fair to their leaders, invest enough as necessary, equip the leaders with the tools and give them the space they need.

So think twice: as an employee while stepping in a leader shoe & as an organization while choosing the leaders you'll entrust the today and tomorrow of the company.