Leadership myths and demons

We think we understand leaders and leadership. And I suppose to some extent we do. But we also work with a lot of leadership. mythology-curious ideas developed over time as urban legends- and demons-either blaming leaders for the evil in the world or viewing leadership with suspicion.

Leadership myths are pervasive and persistent. What makes them concerning is that people who believe in them usually fail to reach their leadership potential and sometimes hold others back as well. Myths and demons stand in the way of barriers in an obstacle course.

Consider these myths:

• Leaders are born.
• Leaders are men.
• The leaders are rich.
• Leaders are especially charismatic.
• The leaders are white.
• Leaders are excellent communicators.
• Leaders are simply managers who have more power.
• Leadership is authority.
• Leadership is hierarchical or positional.
• Leadership cannot be taught.

You may be able to cite individual examples for all of these statements, but an example does not constitute law. On the other hand, an example to the contrary will invalidate what someone thinks is a law and we can point to many exceptions. None of these statements can be generalized to all leaders in all times and cultures.

For example, I have never met a leader who was not born, so to proclaim “Leaders are born” as if it were a great discovery is foolish. But many people still believe that leadership attributes and skills are instilled at birth and that’s about it. If you didn’t get the leadership gene from the stork, the argument goes, you’ll never be a leader.

This idea recalls the feudal perspectives of the Middle Ages up to the divine right of kings. But to say that leaders are born and never “made” does not stand the test of experience.

The leaders are men, and rich men too. Oh really? Joan of Arc was neither a man nor rich. The same can be said of Harriet Tubman and Mother Teresa. Have a disproportionate number of leaders been male, and have many leaders been wealthy? Sure. But this historical fact says more about women’s lack of access in certain times and cultures than about innate ability. And more than one wife has led from behind the scenes when her husband, the chosen or expected leader, would not or could not lead. Just ask Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.

Leaders are not leaders unless they exude charisma. Wrong again. President Calvin Coolidge was an intelligent man, but charisma is certainly not a word associated with his memory. Charisma is not essential. The non-charismatic “Silent Cal” still did a few things.

Leaders are as different in personality and gifts as the leaves in a forest of trees. Gifted Native American speakers Tecumseh and later Chief Joseph were leaders in a lost cause, and they weren’t white. Neither was Martin Luther King, Jr., a world-class orator and the foremost leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. The biblical Moses, arguably one of the greatest leaders who ever lived, at least initially struggled with poor communication skills.

Leaders are just hype managers. No, leaders can be good managers, and some managers may possess leadership skills. But leaders are more than managers with the most influence. Leaders lead and managers, well, they manage. We need you both.

Leadership is not just for those who hold formal authority, have accumulated power, or hold office. Talent and tenacity trump titles any day. That is a lesson from the American Revolutionary War. It took the ragged colonists nearly eight years to do so, but they managed to hunt down the Redcoats and punish the King. Women without power or status, but leaders from Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Susan B. Anthony worked throughout the 19th century to secure the right to vote for American women, finally granted in 1920 in the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. USA. Even “untitled” leaders get things done.

Consider these demons:

• The leaders are robber barons.
• The leaders are undemocratic.
• Leadership is Machiavellian, that is, manipulative.
• Leadership is tyrannical.
• Leadership is intimidation or coercion.
• Leadership is controlling, dictating.
• Leadership contradicts service or “servitude.”

For some reason, our ideas about leadership get twisted with our image of “bad guys” and their desire to take over the world. Lex Luthor in the Superman movies. Adolf Hitler in real history. Some people just can’t seem to think of leading without winning. From this point of view, leaders are self-promoting, “political” who cannot be trusted. Only “the people” will finally be right.

Part of this attitude toward leadership is fostered by the American democratic culture. We have not fully trusted a leader since we overthrew King George of England and our George left the first presidency.

Some of this suspicious attitude is justifiable. Some leaders have not deserved the loyalty and power they commanded or usurped, and some leaders have left lasting bitterness in their wake. Richard Nixon is America’s most high-profile recent example. And historically, the world has certainly endured evil leaders-from the Old Testament King Jehoram, about whom it was said, “He passed away, to no one’s regret,” to Genghis Khan to Nero to Pol Pot to Saddam Hussein to Kim Jong- Him. Unfortunately, the rogue’s gallery is full.

Dishonest, undemocratic, manipulative, tyrannical, coercive and dictatorial demagogues are the bad people. However, his record shows us morally questionable individuals occupying leadership positions, not a record of something inherently irredeemable about leadership in general.

Leadership is a tool. As free moral agents, human beings can use leadership for good or ill. Leadership always comes back to character.

As people who can choose, we can choose to lead. None of these common myths or demons ultimately hold the water and none of them should stop anyone from becoming a leader if desire and opportunity require it.

Part of what makes leadership so fascinating is that leaders come from all walks and walks of life. Nobody is excluded. For this we can be grateful to God and to a democratic and open country where people matter.

Tom Brokaw described an entire generation as leaders. He pointed out in his book the greatest generation that the United States is losing several thousand a day who survived the Great Depression and World War II. This generation was the “greatest” because they answered the call time and time again. They led by example, commitment and participation. These men and women took the measure of their challenges and in some cases gave “the last full measure” to stand up for what they believed in.

The question we face now is who will take the leadership place of the Great Generation? You can be you, and false mythologies and demons shouldn’t get in your way.