Coaching Real Leaders
The current economic difficulties bring
with them an intriguing quandary for
senior leaders. These are times when
leaders must make a choice between
opting for safe leadership, or stepping
up to be real leaders.
At the extreme, safe leaders are
driven so much by their needs for
reward, status, and power that they are
unwilling to put themselves on the line
because of the threat of losing their
position if they take the wrong action.
They keep their heads out of the firing
line, they are risk-averse, and they will
sit tight in the hope that more favorable
conditions are just around the corner.
There is little or no innovation and
challenge to orthodoxy during a safe
leader’s tenure since his focus is almost
exclusively on micromanaging the short
term---particularly around items such as
achieving this week’s numbers. In tough
times, the focus is on cutting costs and
probably putting a halt on development
activities such as coaching.
Real leaders, on the other hand,
are driven more by the challenge and
opportunity to put themselves out there
and make a difference. Real leaders
become more prominent in tough times.
Sure, they have to focus on and manage
the short-term challenges as well, but
their minds are geared more toward
investing for the future.
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