Leadership Positions are Overrated!

Matthew McGrath is helping first-time managers be awesome at their jobs. Over the past 20 years, Matthew has coached over 1,000 individuals globally. What gets him out of bed is the motivation of seeing others succeed through his coaching. Watch the interview above or listen to the audio version on the Blue Collar Leadership podcast Ep. 390.

“The cost of leadership is self-interest.” ~ USMC Lt. General George Flynn

If you can’t lead without a position, you won’t lead with a position.

If you learn to lead without a position, it will only be a matter of time before you are recognized for your influence and offered a formal leadership position.

Then, it will be your choice to accept or deny that position based on the future you’re attempting to create. Will the position move you in the right direction?? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.

You will always have more options when you can lead (influence) people without a position.

Why?

Because your influence is real. It’s authentic. People actually want to follow you. They don’t have to follow you. It’s not tied to or related to a position of formal authority. It’s based on who you are, not what you are. That’s moral authority.

Think with me for a moment.

If you were the big boss, and you were going to promote one of two supervisors to a higher level leadership position and everything else was equal, would you be more likely to promote:

• the supervisor people follow only because they have to?
• the supervisor people follow because they truly want to?

Which supervisor has more influence?

It’s obviously the supervisor people want to follow.

Moral authority is very powerful.

I’ve spent my entire career leading with moral authority. I’ve only had three people report directly to me in my entire career which spans 35+ years. However, I get paid to speak, train, coach, and write about leadership.

Why is that?

It’s because I don’t need a position to make things happen. All I need is a team!

You have a team too.

Are you ready to lead?

Your value is multiplied when you can lead without having a leadership position.

As a consultant, I’ve transformed entire organizations without having a leadership position and been paid very well to do it. No one officially reported to me. I have experienced amazing results.

The Secret to Leading Well

Don’t focus on becoming more successful. Focus on becoming more valuable and more influential.

Don’t focus on getting a position. That’s playing small.

Focus on growing and developing your influence (leadership). That’s playing tall.

“In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” ~ Harry Truman

John C. Maxwell said it best, "Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less." The person with the most influence at any given time for any given reason is the leader of the pack. Not sometime, all the time.

Move Beyond Artificial Influence

When someone is given a position of authority over others, they are really being given “artificial” influence. Artificial influence creates the illusion that you have real influence.

Artificial influence will make a boss with a position think they are a leader because they confuse respect for their position with respect for them as a person. This happens a lot in the military.

A boss thriving on artificial influence (position) isn’t interested in developing himself or the other bosses on their team. That’s what leaders do, not what bosses do.

However, if you choose to influence people using only artificial influence, you are not leading. You are simply bossing. Sure you can accomplish a lot bossing others, but what are you leaving on the table? What could a leader do?

Moral authority turns a boss into a leader.

The only influence that truly has any meaningful value is based on moral authority, not formal authority.

Position or title isn’t important or required. Fear and intimidation doesn’t exist. Others choose to follow you because of who you are and how you make them feel.

Bosses make things happen with people who have to help them.

Leaders make things happen with people who want to help them.

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Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines is a book that's packed from cover to cover (30 chapters; 3 pages per chapter) with principles that anyone at any level can learn to apply...but, the intended audience is the front line, entry-level blue-collar workforce. Those who are most often expected to perform at a high level with a low level of development.

Don't wait for the boss to develop you!

YOU develop you!

Preview this and other books that will help you learn HOW TO climb to the next level and beyond at BlueCollarLeadership.com/download