A leadership myth …

A problem with the addiction to “leadership” from many of today’s leaders is that much of what is bandied around as “leadership wisdom” is little more than platitudes common to social media and calendars.

Here’s one common thought you see passed as a leadership insight: that good leaders are not managers.

Nothing could be more inaccurate!

Successful leadership requires good management skill. Leadership is more than being a thought leader. It’s more than developing a vision, pointing in a direction, and then leaving all the work to the followers.

To turn a vision into a reality, a leader must have reliable management skills in order to guide change, growth, and progress. As a leader, you have people and processes that have to be managed.

Consider the shepherd of biblical days, the very character from which biblical leadership is often drawn from. A shepherd spends far more time managing a flock than leading it. Keeping his flock safe, well fed and watered, and in the right pastures is more a work of management than leadership.

Unfortunately, many who consider themselves leadership “gurus” speak condescendingly of those managers who are often the ones with their sleeves rolled up really making things happen.

Good management skills are not something to be shunned or ashamed of, but rather, something to be honed and applied as part of the work that a good leader does.

Scotty