obama dalai lama
Why Would Anyone Want To Be Led By You?
What makes people follow leaders? We think of the charismatic leaders such as a Barack Obama, or Bill Clinton or Dr. Martin Luther King, and yet the quiet, calm leaders such as Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandella or the Dalai Lama.
In business, certain leaders have developed a devoted following, such as a Jack Welch or Carly Fiorina. Did they have anything in common? Given the current mistrust of our captains of industry, the issue of what kind of leaders to follow becomes an important one.
If you want to silence a roomful of executives, ask them, “why would anyone want to be led by you?” You’ll usually be met with silence.
We’ve all read the typical leadership books which focus on the characteristics of leaders as needing, vision, energy, charismatic authority and strategic thinking. So let’s take that as a given. But is there more?
Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones have written an interesting book, Why Should Anyone Be Led By You, The authors argue that you can’t get anything done without followers, and in current times, the overused concept of “empowerment” is central. Followers today are hard to find, except by leaders who excel at capturing people’s hearts, minds and spirits. They go on to say that the qualities of leadership are not essentially about results per se. While many leaders they studied had great financial results, they excelled at something more–something somewhat intangible.
In their 25 years of research on leadership, Goffee and Jones were able to identify four popular myths about leadership:
Myth 1: Everyone can be a leader. Not true. Many managers or executives don’t have the self-awareness or authenticity for leadership.
Myth 2: Great leaders primarily deliver business results. Not always. If results were the only measure, many of the great leaders in business would be classified as failures. And it depends on whether you measure the short-term or long-term.
Myth 3. People who get to the top are leaders. Not necessarily. Most people who have mad it to the top have done so because of political acumen, not necessarily because of leadership qualities.
Myth 4: Leaders are great coaches. Rarely. While it is possible for leaders to be great coaches, that happens occasionally. But smart leaders bring in talented coaches to help them and their followers.
So what do great leaders do that makes people want to follow them? Here’s what Goffee and Jones suggest are four critical behaviors:
- Great leaders reveal their weakessness. They show us who they are, warts and all.
2. Great leaders are “sensors,” collecting “soft people data”–interpersonal cues, so they can intuitively decide what’s going on and what they need to do.
3. Great leaders manage employees with “tough empathy.” They care passionately about their employees and their work, while giving them only what they need to achieve their best.
4. Great leaders dare to be different. They capitalize on what is unique in them to great advantage.
In these difficult times, leadership has never been more important, and having leaders who are authentic and can capture the hearts and souls of their followers have never been more needed.
About the Author
Ray Williams is Co-Founder of Success IQ University and President of Ray Williams Associates, companies based in Phoenix and Vancouver, providing leadership development, personal growth and executive coaching services and products.
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