You Don’t Have to Be the Star

When you go into a leadership role, the world does not have to revolve around you. And if you are a really good leader, it won’t.

Earlier styles of leadership tended to focus on one strong leader at the top, often a charismatic figure, but certainly a commanding one. Today’s leadership, especially in knowledge-based industries, is transforming from that strict hierarchy based on military styles, to a more collaborative, participatory, people-oriented approach. For that matter, even the militaries in many countries (including the US) have evolved toward more authority farther down in the ranks. There are lots of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that the concept of leadership is shifting away from the idea of a single strong leader at the top.

Many people come into a leadership position thinking they are going to save the day, or make the big change that will transform the company. But anyone who expects to be successful needs to recognize they can have a much more powerful effect if they allow their employees to exercise their skills and their initiative, rather than trying to do everything themselves. Your employees have skills that you don’t, they have ideas that never occur to you, and if you do not let them have a voice, you are wasting a lot of talent.

This is not to say that you put every decision to a vote, or that you have a meeting every day to discuss whatever issues have arisen in the last 24 hours. Leadership by teams can take much too long. What you should realize, though, is that in most cases your role is not to come up with all the answers yourself, but instead is to harness the talent at your disposal and keep it focused. Instead of always telling people what to do, maybe you should be getting them to tell you what they CAN do.

Remember: Superman could always do more when he was fighting evil alongside the Justice League rather than when he was on his own.