7 Leadership Lies You Need to Stop
Believing
7 Leadership Lies You Need Stop Believing
We live in an age that seeks quick fixes and easy answers. Sometimes leaders
abdicate their thinking to others and accept “prevailing wisdom,” which is often
an oxymoron.
I grew up, like most, accepting many things at face value. It wasn’t until I started
giving important issues like leadership a second and third thought that I realized
I’d been believing what turned out to be some serious leadership myths.
Here are seven leadership lies and why they simply aren’t true:
1. “All managers are leaders.”Truth: some managers can lead and others
don’t or cannot. Management is a subset of leadership, not its equivalent.
Managers are good at setting up, monitoring and maintaining systems and
processes. They hire people. But if they can’t bring out better performance in
people and take the organization beyond where it is, they aren’t leading.
Leadership always involves change, improvement and growth.
1. “Some are born leaders.”Truth: even someone with a predisposition to
lead must learn the skills of leadership.
A young person who is 6’6″ might have the predisposition to play basketball, but
he or she still needs to learn the skills before they can play successfully.
Leadership might be more latent in some than others — and you can’t always tell
— so focus on what isdeveloping someone’s behaviors, not their biological
background.
1. “Leaders always have the right answers.”Truth: leaders ask the right
questions and know where to find the best answers.
If your people always come to you for answers, you’re stunting their ability to
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think. And if everyone in your company keeps asking the same questions, I assure
you, you’re not that innovative.
Without questioning and curiosity, leaders simply manage by using familiar
answers long after the marketplace has started asking different questions. It isn’t
about knowing the answers as much as it is about knowing who to ask and where
to look.
1. “You need a title to lead.”Truth: to lead you only need to know when it is
appropriate to do so and how to do it.
When I stay at a hotel, the majority of peopleI encounter — from thefront desk
tohousekeeping to foodservice — have no formal title or power over people, yet
they are responsible for creatingmy experience there — good or bad. Good
staff willing to take the lead are as important (and probably more) than the
official leaders at the top.
Leadership is about making things better, and the best organizations teach
everyone to take responsibility for leading.
1. “Leaders are focused.”Truth: Leaders create a shared focus.
If your team isn’t focused, it doesn’t matter how focused you are on doing what
matters. A manager is usually focused, but a leader creates shared focus and
doesn’t waste resources by allowing team members to do work that doesn’t
matter.
Being focused is about self-responsibility and discipline. Creating shared focus is
about engaging others in the leadership agenda and makingit specific to their
jobs.
1. “Leadership is about ambition.”Truth: leadership is about the greater
good.
There’s nothing wrong with ambition, but it primarily serves the ambitious. If
what you’re doing serves only you, you almost certainly aren’t leading.
When others are served better as well — customers, colleagues, vendors, the
community — that is the sign of effective leadership.
1. “Anyone can lead.”Truth: Nobody can lead if they lack the desire to do so.
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You can’t make people lead any more than you can make a horse drink once
you’ve led it to water. Desire is the sine quanon of effective leadership.
And you, Mr. or Ms. Leader, cannot become better without the same desire. I’ve
observed that nobody improves by accident. Getting better is about getting past
the common thinking, lies and misconceptions and digging for wisdom. Once you
know the truth, it can set you free and make you a better leader.
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Mark Sanborn
Mark Sanborn is a bestselling author and acclaimed leadership keynote speaker
living in Denver, CO.
Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National
Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was
recently honored with the Cavett Award, the highest honor the NSA bestows on
its members, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the speaking
profession. Mark is also a member of the exclusive Speakers Roundtable, made up
of 20 of the top speakers in America.
Learn more by visitng https://marksanborn.com/