Humans are always impressed by leaders. We used to write epic poems about them. More recently we have devoted numerous biographies to their lives. It goes without saying that top leaders deserve the limelight. They are treated as celebrities and earn stonking great piles of cash. After all, these are the people that make all the decisions and drive the rest of us on to make progress. It is little wonder that we accord them such a high level of status.
It seems almost heresy to say anything against these demi-gods. But do we actually need them? Maybe we do at the national level. And maybe there are people like Steve Jobs and Richard Branson who really do make a real difference. But on a day to day basis, I can't say that I have really spotted much that I can thank the leaders I have directly interacted with.
On the whole, leadership roles devolve onto those who are decisive. That seems to be a common trait. If you want to get promoted into management make sure you can make a decision. I confess that I spotted this some time ago and have to confess that I made a point of demonstrating decision making prowess when I was in organisations. But I also noticed, and this certainly applied to me, that this had little to do with making the right decisions.
I don't know if less decisive people make better or worse decisions. We rarely analyse that sort of thing. But I can certainly remember plenty of bad decisions made by managers I have come into contact with, me included. Somehow they tend to get forgiven. You have to be virtually a fascist dictator before anyone does anything to get rid of you. And come to think of it, aren't fascist dictators rather good examples of leadership?
Photo credit: antmoose via photopin cc
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