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5 LEADERSHIP MYTHS & 1 GREAT LEADERSHIP STORY 

The Father of our country, George Washington, is reported as saying, “I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot lie.” Wouldn’t it be great if all leaders made that pledge?

There are so many myths about leadership, but here are five that I disagree with.

1.  Leaders are made, not born

Not true. Everyone is born. Leaders are no different. Since God doesn’t make junk, all of us are born with the seeds of leadership greatness. We either choose to lead or follow based on the people we allow to influence us. Our biggest challenge in life is to lead ourselves. Never forfeit that right to others. Developing your God-given leadership skills is your responsibility.

2.  Leaders are great at convincing others to achieve their goals

I’ve always disliked this famous quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” That philosophy is not the art of leadership. It’s the art of manipulation. Manipulation is a devious tactic to convince gullible people that they are driving the manipulators’ agenda. It’s really a disgusting character flaw that many “leaders” exploit. What happened to the art of honesty?

3.  Leaders build consensus and compromise

I’ve never understood this feel good concept that is promoted in the leadership community. You’re in a meeting discussing if 2 + 2 = 4. Some of your co-workers believe that 2 + 2 = 6. After hours of discussion, consensus leaders are willing to compromise to illustrate their enlightened status to the group. The compromise would be 2 + 2 = 5. The group now must accept an answer or direction that no one believes in just to create a bizarre sense of love and harmony. When leaders refuse to lead, companies fail.

4.  Leaders should treat everyone the same

No! Everyone is different. Everyone contributes differently. Judge individuals as individuals, not in the collective. I don’t believe Eagles employees are happy when an across the board raise percentage is issued to all employees. Eagles know they contributed more than Ducks. This gutless uniformity destroys morale of the good people. Ducks love uniformity because they receive the same percentage as people who contribute twice as much as they did. Ducks love to scam the system. Getting something for nothing is their mantra.

5.  Leaders are confident

Externally leaders appear confident. Internally they are terrified. Eagle leaders understand the incredible responsibility they have to lead their companies.  An Eagle leader realizes that they could be fired at anytime. Once a leader becomes addicted to the entitlement disease of their position, their leadership skills will deteriorate. They start to coast and enjoy their perks. They usually destroy their companies shortly after the entitlement disease kicks in. When the fear of not generating results in gone, you are no longer valuable to your company.

Action Steps

• Accept your God-given responsibility to lead yourself.
• Decide on your leadership foundation – Lying, cheating, manipulation, stealing or character, integrity and honesty.
• Be a “Blunt Truther.” Say what you believe and believe what you say. Never trust anyone who does one thing in public and another in private.
• Take action on what you believe. Action is hard. That’s why 90% of people are willing to be followers and wait for instructions instead of thinking and acting.

Story

A retiring CEO knew it was time to select his replacement. He struggled with his decision. Through all the ups and downs, he deeply loved his company, clients and employees. How would he choose his successor? How would he know they felt the same way he did about his company?

He decided on five candidates. He called a meeting and explained it was time for him to retire. He informed the potential leaders on how he was going to select his replacement.

He presented each candidate with a seed. He instructed them to plant the seed in a pot and bring the plant back in three months. He explained that caring and developing a plant is the same as caring and developing a business. In three months, he would judge the plants and the best developed plant would be the new CEO.

All five candidates accepted the challenge and planted their seeds. After two months, all five candidates were in a meeting together. Four of them were bragging about how well their plants were doing. One candidate, Tom, didn’t say a word. For some reason his plant never grew. He watered, fertilized and cared for his plant, but nothing happened.

After three months, the CEO called the five candidates into his conference room. Four candidates displayed their beautiful plants to the CEO. The CEO noticed that Tom walked in with an empty pot. Tom explained how hard he cared and worked to make the plant grow, but his efforts failed. He apologized and asked to be excused from the CEO selection meeting.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except for Tom. Tom was terrified that he was going to be mocked and ridiculed or maybe fired. The CEO smiled and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I happy to introduce you to our new CEO, Tom.” Everyone was shocked, especially Tom.

The CEO explained to the candidates that the seeds he had provided to them were “dead” seeds. They were incapable of growing. The CEO explained, “All of you decided that lying, cheating and manipulation was an acceptable option to achieve your goal. Tom chose honesty, integrity, character and courage. You left me no choice. I would never trust my company, clients and employees that I love to someone who will choose corruption over character. Not only is Tom our new CEO, each of you are fired. Get out of here and take your stupid plants with you.”

To Eagle leaders, character still matters. The four fired candidates decided to run for public office and I understand they are doing quite well.