Send to Kindle

I’ve always felt leadership is a means to an end. It is not an end in itself. Meaning, you can’t really develop “Leadership” and hope to do anything useful. You have to apply leadership behaviors in your context, in order to reap the benefits.

Here is at least one person who sees it that way:

“Leadership” is the military’s snake oil (Warning: the article is provocative and polarizing)

This does not mean leadership is a waste of time. This also does not mean leadership is a silver bullet. The truth is somewhere in between.

Leadership is a “hygiene” factor as well as a “motivator.” If you or your co-workers lack leadership, your organization is doomed. Showing leadership behaviors is not enough. You still have to meet and exceed customer expectations before you can declare success.

You will deal with the imperfections and ambiguities in the workplace much better with leadership behaviors. Note that you are imperfect and ambiguous to your co-workers, thus you are both part of the problem and the solution.