Leadership = gory or glory?

When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves.' - Lao Tzu

There was an age when monarchs used to lead their troops into battles. They would be soiled with the blood of their people and those that were not, caked in the same grime as their people in the trenches, ate the food that their people were fed and quite often, died with their people as well.

To be a leader in that age was to be someone who would never ask their people to do something they were not willing to do themselves. It wasn't enough that you ascended through royal lineage, you had to be ready to prove yourself capable and worthy to lead everyday. And at the end of the day, to lead sacrificially when necessary.

It got me thinking how many leaders today would pass the stringent tests of being one in that aforementioned less-forgiving age? Before you attempt to fashion a response, ask yourselves these basic questions about the leader you are currently working for.

1. Are they putting themselves in the firing line of every risky decision that needs to be made or any difficult task that needs to be accomplished?
2. Are they willing to do everything they ask you to do themselves if necessary?
3. Are they toiling along with you, to work hand in hand to achieve what needs to be achieved?
4. Are they willing to come down to where you are to get to know you and the challenges you are facing?
5. Are they leading sacrificially by prioritising the organisation over personal glory?

If your answer to most of these questions is 'no', then your leader would probably have faced mutiny, impaled with a sword and dumped from the highest tower in the kingdom. Long and short of it - they would not be a leader in that age, at least not for long.

Perhaps it's time we bring leadership back to basics. Well, not to chain mails and broad swords but to the essence of what it's really about. It was never about snazzy offices, and board meetings with coffee and cakes. Once upon a time, it was about sacrificially inspiring others to follow you everyday.

If you're a leader today, ask yourself the questions above. Are you doing any of these things? If your answers are mostly 'no', then are you willing to do something to change that?

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