Leadership Is Not For All of Us

Leadership is attractive for most of us. But mostly due to the perks and benefits, the glamour of the thing. However, to be honest, most of us are not prepared to be at least, barely good leaders. I have found that is not something for all of us, even though apparently it can be taught and certified with a shining diploma.

And one of the reasons is that leadership consumes a lot of personal energy (for the good ones, not the less than barely good). One part of that energy pie chart goes to people: collaborators, peers, bosses, clients, audience, and so forth. Managing people is 100x more complex than managing resources, and it takes a lot of energy.

For example, I have seen leaders that prefer not to be involved in a project in his/her area, because they make the calculation of the amount of energy and time that this new thing will take from them (less time for the glamour…). I have seen leaders delegating important things (decision energy), quitting from initiatives (activities energy), resisting to change (that’s one of the most consuming, by the way), not taking responsibility and accountability and so forth.

I’m not implying that as leaders you have to take everything. No at all. Actually, you have to chose your battles in a smart way, because your energy is finite. But, chose your Midways and Waterloos (on the Duke of Wellington’s side, of course…). I mean, epic and transformative battles.

I have learnt from past mistakes that choosing your leaders must be done with extremely care. Do not make leaders because it is her/his natural next step. Actually, it is an anti-natural step. You must identify at least basic leadership capabilities in them before giving them the responsibilities. If you choose well, your organization will thrive. If not, you will have another energy drain as a leader, because you will need to cover that lack of leadership.

So not dream in becoming a leader if you are not prepared to pay the price. Leadership is not for all of us.