These ideas about leadership might be common, but they’re misconceptions.
I am making an ongoing collection of leadership misconceptions and I have gathered 22 to get the list started.
Perhaps the list will help readers in some way and be discussion starters. I did not come up with all of these and in fact gathered them from various sources. Some of them are common thoughts about leadership.
Please submit additional potential misconceptions in the comments section and I will consider adding them to the ongoing list, giving credit to the one making the submission.
1. Leaders are born and not made.
No! While some people develop innate leadership skills early, many learn the skills and become good leaders because of crises and challenges.
2. Leaders define leadership.
No! The fact is that followers define leadership and why they follow another person. Leaders cannot always identify why others follow them although it must be stated that people will often follow a leader that is absolutely WRONG.
3. A person is a leader because he or she has a title.
No! Positional leadership is temporary. People decide rather quickly whether they will continue to follow an individual in a position. He or she must earn the right. It is called Leadership Capital.
4. A person is a leader because he or she has power and authority.
No! A person may have the authority to make decisions, but that does not mean he or she makes good decisions. Likewise, some leaders have had little authority but were great leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. is an example.
5. Managers are leaders.
No! The opposite is also false: Leaders are managers. While there are similarities, there are some differences between managing and leading.
6. Being in a job a long time makes one a leader.
No! Does the person have 20 years of experience or a year of experience 20 times?
7. Education makes one a leader.
No! There are people with 4.0 averages that have little leadership ability and there are people without a college education that are great leaders.
8. One has to be old to be a leader.
No! Some people have a quick aptitude and very good intuitive and relational skills that make them early leaders.
9. Innovators are leaders.
No! Not in every case. Many people have invented new products, but could not get them to the market.
10. Entrepreneurs are leaders.
No! Not all company CEOs are good leaders of others.
11. Leaders know everything.
No! However, they are often good at resourcing. They know where to get what is needed and they know how to bring the right people together to accomplish more than otherwise would be done.
12. Leaders are infallible.
No! New leadership skills are often learned through mistakes.
13. Leaders only give orders.
No! The best leaders give more inspiration and give fewer commands. 3/7/13 Tina Gibson added, ” … leaders lead by example (do what I DO, not do what I say!)”
14. Leaders are charismatic.
No! Leaders come from all people-style groups. Some are amiable, analytical, assertive and animated.
15. Leaders have imposing personalities.
Again, leaders come from all of the personality styles.
16. Leaders do not delegate the most important things.
No! The best leaders build collaborative teams that make good ideas better.
17. Leaders treat everyone the same.
No! If that were true, a successful leader might put everyone one the same bus in the same seat on the bus. Leaders often see the uniqueness of people and see how they may help them reach their full potential.
18. Leaders should not be friends with team members.
No! The best leaders often have some very close friends on their teams.
19. Leaders select only experienced people.
No! Great leaders often will select talent for the next generation.
20. Leaders should focus on the weaknesses.
No! They should delegate to their weaknesses and work toward their strengths.
21. Leaders develop the people around them.
No! Many leaders are poor at developing the next generation of leaders.
22. Leadership attitudes do not matter.
No! They do matter. Attitude may be one of the greatest differentiators of leadership.
* 23. Leadership can be inherited.
No! It is true that a leader may choose a successor, but those he leads will decide whether the new leader is a leader. Leadership ability may be taught, but it is not passed on with a position. Added by Tom Cocklereece on 3/11/2013.
* 24. Evil leaders are poor leaders.
No, unfortunately! We may not like this one, but history is replete with leaders who perpetrated great evil, but to do so they had to have had well developed leadership abilities. Perhaps one of the most notorious examples of this is Adolf Hitler.
Added by Tom Cocklereece on 3/11/2013.
Again, please offer additional misconceptions of leadership in the comment section for my consideration.
Tom Cocklereece and his wife live in Marietta, GA. Tom has degrees in medical technology, healthcare administration, theology, and a doctorate in leadership and administration. He has served churches in Tennessee, Alaska, and Georgia. He is a specialist in ministry organizational development, discipleship, and coaching. His first book, Simple Discipleship provides a simple transformational discipleship process churches may use to improve their disciple-making ministries. He has written a workbook titled The Disciple-Maker’s Toolkit in a leader and learner edition. He is currently completing the manuscript tentatively titled The 25 Indisputable Laws of Discipleship: How to Reflect the Light of Jesus.
More from Tom Cocklereece or visit Tom at www.simplediscipleship-wordpress.com/