1. Leadership is a lonely road.
Leaders that find themselves on a lonely road are not on the road to successful leadership, they are on the road to devastation and isolation.
Leaders cannot sustain the pressures that come with leading alone. Though leaders many times will take the road less traveled, it doesn’t mean no one goes with them.
Healthy leaders are surrounded by healthy relationships.
2. Leadership is power.
Power driven leaders drive people from their organizations. Leaders are only as powerful as the people who are following them.
A leader that leads by power and position is a leader that often bankrupts people of their value and worth to an organization. The power driven leader makes it all about them, but genuine leadership is concerned about the success of others.
3. Leadership must have an element of mystery.
Leaders who believe they must be somewhat mysterious in my opinion have serious issues.
This idea emerged out of the idea that if people become too familiar with a leader that it will somehow nullify their ability to lead effectively.
Leaders thrive when they create cultures of transparency, authenticity and accessibility. Mystery is not a quality of healthy leadership, it’s an indicator that a leader has totally missed what leadership is all about: serving others.
4. Leadership is for everyone.
Leadership is for anyone, but not for everyone.
Leadership cannot happen without a contingency of followers. As John Maxwell says, “If you think you are a leader and no one is following you, you are just going for a walk.”
I first ran across this leadership lie in the late ′90s. I believe the opposite is true. Everyone is called to follow, not everyone is gifted with the innate ability to lead others.
Can leadership be learned by anyone? You bet, but to become a leader you must be chosen to be one or make a choice to become one.
Leadership is a gift that not everyone is graced with. If we are really honest, there are many who have deemed themselves as leaders that are operating outside the graces of what God has called them to. Some people are passionate followers and are content with being led by great leaders choosing to follow rather than lead.
5. Leadership is without struggle.
A leader’s strength is developed in the struggle, not without struggle. I like how Steven Snyder in his book Leadership and the Art of Struggle exposes this lie:
“Fulfilling your potential as a leader requires that you think differently about leadership. You must recast your struggles as positive learning experiences and view them as necessary steps in your development as a leader. You must look at leadership through an entirely different lens.”
Viewing struggles as an opportunity instead of an obstacle is essential in leadership.
