Why do so many leaders fail to inspire?
Arrive at any bookshop and the shelves are groaning under the weight of leadership models, theories and stories. You can read about the leadership qualities of Mandela, Michelle Obama, Shackleton, Sir Alex Ferguson. I could go on. These are worthy books. But do they really advance the cause on what effective leaders actually do? In focusing on the personalities and qualities of leaders, we risk neglecting the real question. How do leaders in the real world overcome adversity? How do they look after themselves when the pressure for results is so high? How do they resolve silo thinking and internal politics? How do they build strong teams when they’ve inherited team members who are jaded, under-appreciated and cynical?
Perhaps we just expect too much from our leaders? They’re time poor. Wrestling with competing priorities. Often lurching from one crisis to another. Fuelled by caffeine and adrenaline, they’re often in wall-to-wall meetings. We somehow expect our leaders to be Superman or Superwoman. Intelligent. Driven. Highly sociable. Skilled in resolving conflict. Making time for people. Brilliant Coaches. Adept at giving feedback and catching people doing things right. The reality is they’re often exhausted, overwhelmed and overstretched.
Perhaps the time has come to change the narrative. And create workplaces where we all ‘lead without title’. We all do our bit to create inspiring human-friendly workplaces.
Senior players simply can’t succeed unless everyone shows up each day as the best version of themselves. Even though our manager may not inspire us. What if we took personal responsibility for motivating ourselves? We delivered work to the best of our abilities. We carved out time each day to learn something new. We supported our team colleagues and were proactive in leading change initiatives. Positive cultures give everyone license to show up and make a difference. So what if we focused on building inspiring cultures and worried less about why we don’t have enough inspiring leaders?
If any of this resonates then why not try a 10-Day FREE trial of the MOJO Leaders 100-Day Challenge – designed for leaders who want to grow more ‘leaders without title’. #growmoreleaderswithouttitle #leadership