I love leadership. I feel called to it. I realize the need for good leadership, but the fact is that leadership is hard.
I meet regularly with some high-level, senior leaders to glean from them. We talk about our common challenges in attempting to lead others. One shared discovery we have made in our time together is about the perception that people who haven’t served as a senior leader have about people in that role. It’s the same one we had before we were in senior leadership. It often looks easier—and maybe even more glamorous—from the outside than it is in reality.
As a student and blogger of leadership, I want to be realistic with people who desire to be senior leaders.
Here are 10 harsh realities of leadership:
You will at times be unpopular. Every leader is at some point. Change is hard and people will agree and disagree.You open emotional wounds through change. In fact, they will often blame you for changes happening in their own life because of the change you are making as a leader.
You will have to make decisions no one else will make. That’s what leaders do. It’s what inspires people to follow. It’s what challenges the paradigms. It’s what leads us to a discovery—and hopefully even a better reality.
You have to be able to see farther than today. If you can’t, maybe leadership is not your thing. Leaders aren’t stuck in today. They are leveraging influence today for something better that may not be realized until some tomorrow.
You won’t be successful long by making excuses. You’ll make mistakes. You’ll be more likely to attract followers through your ownership of them. Humility is an admired leadership trait.
You can motivate, but you can’t mandate. Attempting to control or bully people to produce more won’t work long-term. It isn’t a sustainable technique. People will either rebel, fail to live up to potential or leave.
You’re only as good as your team. No matter how good you are—if your team is lousy, so will you be as a leader.
Your legacy will mostly be formed by the investment you made in others. Not by the great ideas you had or the success you can personally take credit for producing. People investments always last longest.
You can’t avoid conflict indefinitely. You can run but you can’t hide. Eventually little things can become big things. Hidden and unresolved conflict eventually explodes.
You will be misunderstood at times. You can have the best intentions, but you’ll still be misunderstood. You’ll have to continually get better at communicating, but you’ll still keep being misunderstood. It’s part of leading people who are different from you.
You can’t neglect your soul for long. If you do—you’ll crash and burn.
Just a few of mine. Any you would share?
