Risk is a natural part of the human experience, and we accept it in many areas of our lives without realizing it. But a lot of people who call themselves leaders want things to be easy and painless. They’re either kidding themselves or lying.
Or both.
For many, leadership has become just another buzzword.
We used to go to “management training,” and now we go to “leadership training.” We are team leaders, program leaders, project leaders, thought leaders, market leaders, and cheerleaders. We are political leaders, and we are community leaders. We lead our companies, we lead our schools, we lead our families, and we lead our lives. We have diluted the meaning of leadership to such a profound degree that it’s become just another label.
But leadership is not that easy, so we con ourselves into believing that the word is the same as the action. Yes, “con” is a strong word. But the truth is, we are our own worst con artists if we use safety and security in the same sentence as “leadership.”
The ability to lead doesn’t come from a snappy vocabulary, the books you’ve displayed on your shelves, your place on the organizational chart, or that fashionable title on your business card. Leadership is always substantive and rarely fashionable. It is intensely personal and intrinsically scary, and it requires us to live the ideas we espouse–in irrefutable ways–every day of our lives, up to and beyond the point of fear.
Here’s a good reflection question: Am I willing to scare myself in order to change things for the better?
Your Extreme Leadership opportunity starts with an affirmative answer.
I like the concept, Steve. The action of “leading” is usually uncomfortable, at the least. Another version of the “con” pertains to our values. While it’s easy to say we value certain things, it’s a lot harder to demonstrate those values through our actions, especially when they go against the grain.
Amen to that, Joe! True accountability is when we hold ourselves accountable to our own words, values, and principles.
Leading is scary at times. What if this time you are wrong. But one has to take the risk. People follow those that are willing to do so.
Among the most challenging aspects of leadership is learning to be intellectually honest with ourselves. Our hopes, fears, and other motivations can either define or limit who we are as leaders. “Intensely personal and intrinsically scary” — absolutely!
And emotionally honest, too.
Love the question are you willing to scare yourself to make something better?
It’s a very good question, maybe the essential one. And I have been wrestling with that very questions since leaving public life 4 years ago. Great post!
The willingness to do so is the difference between lip service and real service.
There is a definite difference between the title of leader regardless of action, and the action of leadership regardless of title. Thought-provoking post.