Leadership literature always invites us to raise up lots of leaders. Because, really, everyone’s a leader.
This, of course, is creating a strange dynamic.
If everyone’s a leader, then doesn’t it also imply nobody’s a leader?
Of course, we’re mixing entirely different visions of leadership.
Most of us with a leadership role in organizations will tell you that we generally don’t have enough leaders to do all we need to do. Our vision of a leader isn’t an authoritarian with whom the buck stops. Leadership is an attribute we all must develop. And the community benefits when we do.
What our organizations are missing is a kind of leadership. The kind that doesn’t just come up with ideas, but is eager to design the strategy for implementing them. Leaders who work well with others and build up others’ strengths.
Leaders inside organizations help us all get things done, manage those under them, inspire coworkers to go further, and take initiative to build their own systems. They show skills as leaders of others and for others.
We have plenty of the kind of leader who sits on top of systems and oversees them. And we have plenty of people who refuse to lead; preferring to do the busy work that makes the organization go.
What we need are those leaders in the middle who take the bull by the horns or design the project and recruit the volunteers to make them happen for the organization. This is the kind we never have enough of.
If you’re looking to make a dent in the universe, this is the spot. I guarantee that most organizations are desperate for that kind of leadership.