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Leadership: When it's go time, are you up for it?




So you want to be in a place of authority? You want to have a team working for you, giving you their best day in and day out? You want all the success and all the recognition… sounds great doesn’t it. Well, are you willing to pay the price for being in that place?


You work hard to become a leader, work hard to start your own business, have an office maybe, gather up enthusiastic people to form a team, it is hard work and it pays off when you see your work and effort in progress. But, what makes those enthusiastic people keep doing what they are doing? What makes them want to stay in their jobs? What makes them want to do more?



The answer here is you, as much as it might be surprising to many, it is the truth. No, it is not the fancy office, it is not the salary, it is not the chocolate and fun, nor it is the bean-bags, it is you; the manager, the leader, and this is the price that you pay in return of being in place of authority.
To better explain; managing a team is one thing, and leading a team is another. Imagine you are now ‘managing’ a team, you give people tasks, you expect them to perform, efficiently, any failure subjects the employee or team member to punishment, or even worse, a risk of losing their jobs. You see the focus here is on getting the most out of every person working without giving them emotional support or care for who they are as people; like a wet towel you want to squeeze just to get every drop of water out of.

But then people are not towels, and this is never a good way to get people to perform; yes they will work, they will do their best not to fail at something or mess something up, they will be at their desks on time and they will respect the rules. However, they will never raise up a hand to say “I don’t know how to do this.” Out of fear of being punished. They will not love their jobs because they don’t feel in any way emotionally attached or rewarded and so they will never give their best but only what’s good enough to help float the boat, because eventually they just want that paycheck. They will never be loyal as there is nothing and no one to be loyal to, in fact, leaving the job once a better offer is available will be a decision taken without skipping a beat. Lastly, people will feel insecure, they don’t feel like a part of a team, they’re just means to an end, employees needed to fill up vacancies and that is how they perform at their jobs day in, and day out.

 "People are not towels, you don't squeeze them to get the best out of them."


Let’s change the scenario, substitute the manager in the previous case with a leader. A leader understands the cost of being in authority; that is becoming the person who cares for the people who do the job. Simply put, imagine a pack of wolves, there is the alpha of the pack, the alpha gets all the privileges of being in that place because of many factors; alphas get to eat first while the team watches their backs, they get the best piece of the meat but it’s okay because of the role they hold in the pack. Now the price of being an alpha is that they are expected to be the first to jump into battle once danger arrives, alphas should protect the members of the pack and keep them safe. Same thing goes in businesses; a leader gets all the privileges of being a leader, and that’s okay because they earned it, but they shall also pay the price of holding that place by putting themselves first for their team. It is the leader’s job to jump into battles, showing others how to do the jobs. It is the leader’s job to take any blame on themselves when something goes wrong, and to give away all the credit when something is done right. It is the leader’s job to make sure that the employee that is not performing as good as they used to is okay; because who knows, maybe they are facing difficulties in their personal lives holding them back or affecting their work performance. It is the leader’s job to ask the team if they needed something, to make sure they all know what to do and how to do it by being an example. People shall handle their jobs and leaders shall handle the people that handle the jobs.

This is how to keep a business going, this is how to build up an environment that people can feel connected to, this is how to make team members loyal to you and in turn to their jobs because automatically when we love our leaders, when we love our team, we love what we are doing, we will want to give it all we’ve got even on our worst days because with having someone to hold our backs we are safe, we feel motivated and filled up with a spark that makes us want to go to our jobs every morning because it is worth it.
We always say, our jobs should give us a sense of purpose, our jobs should be something that we love to do, but it is never “the job”. One leader can change an entire group of people from mediocre to outstanding. So if you want to lead, take it upon yourself to pay the price that comes with leadership and if you want to manage, then enjoy having a bunch of people who hate their lives showing up to an office everyday wishing the day would pass so they can get out safely.

 “Leadership is not for everyone. Everyone has the capacity to be a leader, that is true; but not everyone should be a leader, and not everyone wants to be a leader.” – Simon Sinek


Ask yourself this question today if you are holding a place of authority or if you wish to one day; am I ready to pay the price of leadership? 
Image source: http://www.5stonesmedia.com/blog/leading-you-6-traits-of-a-self-leader
Watch Simon Sinek's talk about leadership "How Sucessful People think": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASyOAlxWgzE&list=LLy_NWn7r8CCay4m0vX4cUrw&t=0s&index=1



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