As Popular As A Leader?

By A. Abeku Haywood-Dadzie

Leadership and popularity are usually bedfellows; they go hand in hand. Most leaders are popular due to the role they perform and the privileges that come with those roles, but not all leaders are necessarily popular. Popularity is not a necessary condition, or even a sufficient condition, for great leadership. It may be one of the imperatives, a key ingredient that needs to be considered on a regular basis, but it’s not the only metric, and it alone does not guarantee?great leadership.

Leadership is about inspiring others to act while simultaneously guiding and guarding the way that they act, while popularity is about the state of being liked. "Leadership-popularity,"?therefore, may be said to be the acceptance an individual enjoys while inspiring others to achieve a goal. Though?leadership and popularity look like cohorts from afar, they don’t always flock together because leadership involves taking hard decisions that may not be popular with the people.

The history of mankind has been graced with some great leaders who were not necessarily popular. Our world has seen situations where people have avalanched?on popularity to become excellent leaders and change the course of history, and vice versa. We have also seen situations where people have become leaders and then became popular and great and vice versa. Whatever the situation is, leadership is not a popularity contest. It has nothing to do with being liked. It’s all about inspiring others to act while simultaneously guiding and guarding the way that they act.

Again, leadership is about doing the right thing at the right time rather than the popular thing. Great leaders often take tough decisions, which, in the long run, benefit the people they lead, not their own popularity. These tough decisions may sometimes be very unpopular and lead to the waning of the leader’s popularity. On one hand, it’s a plus and a convenient coincidence when the right thing is also the popular thing. The challenge, however, is that doing the right thing and doing the popular thing are not always aligned.

To paraphrase the words of one of the greatest leadership coaches of all time, John Maxwell, leaders are always at a crossroads when it comes to the performance of their job. Often, they are faced with making a choice between character and compromise. Every time they choose a character, they become stronger, even if that choice brings negative consequences and makes them unpopular. Every time they choose compromise, they become less assertive and, though their choice may be popular with the people in the short term, in the long term, their names are blotted out of the leadership hall of fame. In short, great leaders take a stand on what matters and risk their "popularity" to ensure that good decisions with long-term benefits are obtained.

In the movie Invictus, the dialogue ensued between Nelson Mandela and Jason.

"Comrade President, " Jason says, "Not long ago, these guys tried to kill us. Maybe even these four guys in my office tried. And they often succeeded. "?

"Yes, I know," Mandela calmly replied. Forgiveness starts here, too. Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon. Please, Jason, try."

Another dialogue with Brenda

Brenda Mazibuko: You're risking your political capital. You're risking your future as our leader.?

Nelson Mandela: The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead.

In a strange way, it is only through the risk of popularity that a leader can actually build trust and confidence among his colleagues. Leaders who strive for a popular decision risk alienating the group's risk-takers, who are willing to support unpopular decisions in times of crisis.