Psychologists have long held that perceptions shape behavior more powerfully than reality. One fine example of perception influencing reality is the conventional wisdom on leadership. For the longest time, business owners have sworn by some beliefs about leadership that at best have brought them mixed results. And when conventional wisdom doesn’t give one the outcome he wants, it’s time to challenge this belief. Here are the most common leadership misconceptions.
Myth #1: Leaders are born, not made.
Scientists have yet to find the so-called leadership gene. While we are all born with different potentials and personalities, none of us are born leaders. There are as many leadership styles as there are people: Some are more charismatic while others are more quiet and warm. You can develop your leadership skills by raising your awareness, creating opportunities, or trying something new.
Think of strengthening your leadership as a lifelong project instead of a quick-results task. Set modest goals and regularly check your progress. Find and meet with a friend or mentor with exemplary leader¬ship qualities, and talk to him not about leadership, but about how business is going, especially about how you interact with staff, customers, and partners. The truth: Leadership is learned and developed.
Myth #2: Status and position make a leader.
When asked who they think are the greatest influences in their life, people often say teachers, coaches, priests, and relatives. Many on the list may not hold what society considers as high status positions, but their leadership was powerful enough that it changed lives. Leadership is not about holding a title; it’s about taking action. Showing up early, going home late, and working alongside the staff at cleanup time are manifestations of leadership.
Some people with fancy titles are actually ineffective leaders, while others with the barest of social standing can wield influence beyond expectation. In your business, you ask yourself: Who are the unrecognized leaders? What am I doing to develop them? The truth: Leadership is shown in action and influence.
Myth #3: Leaders control.
Leadership is sometimes confused with control. The misconception is that instilling fear allows one to maintain a position of leadership. In reality, too much control puts a ceiling on business potentials. Consider the case of a salesperson in a tiangge who, when asked for a discount, always consults the owner. Such rigid rules are indications of ineffective leadership.
True leaders give their frontline employees control and power to decide. Take, for example, the high-end retailer Nordstrom, which only had one rule for its staff: Do whatever it takes to please the customer. And because its people follow the rule, Nordstrom’s reputation for service is famous. Once, on Christmas Eve, a Nordstrom salesperson found a pair of rollerblades that belonged to a friend, and had them wrapped and waiting for pickup after business hours. That kind of service is reflective of how well treated employees are by their employer. Kindness toward one’s staff is never a weakness, but actually spills over to your customers. The truth: Leaders who give control earn their subordinates’ loyalty.
Myth #4: Future leaders need spoon-feeding.
Treating people with kid gloves and hand holding them through the rough times won’t turn them into leaders. At one of the country’s top management programs where I once taught, my experiential methods for teaching the senior class were questioned. Those who complained would say either the 20-year-old students were still young or that they were not ready. I thought it was nonsense, because my students were the country’s best and brightest. All that was needed was teach them how to be responsible, one little step at the time. And that’s what leaders do – prepare their staff for bigger responsibilities.
If you want your people to take responsibility, give it to them. That’s how they become responsible, instead of spoon-feeding them. Develop leaders who respond creatively and effectively to various business situations. The truth: Leadership is about allowing people to take responsibility, and then gradually increasing it over time.
Myth #5: Natural leaders grow into their role when their time comes.
You’ve heard the plot before: The spoiled son is a party animal. But on his 21st birthday, his wise father rewards him by naming him successor to the family’s business empire. A natural leader, the son realizes even more success than his dad. But this is a fairy tale, not what happens in real life. If you are not building leaders now, you won’t have them tomorrow. Worse, you may have to hire new, more expensive people you don’t even know or trust.
A leader spends a lot more time leading and less time handholding. If the staff needs to ask you for the tiniest decisions, like what brand of soap powder to buy, you’re not teaching them leadership. From the start, make people fully responsible for their work. Remember that the supervisor in an overseer role adds no value, only cost. Strengthen your people’s skills by being in a supporting role. Together, set reasonable performance standards. The truth: Future leaders need to be developed now.
Myth #6: Learn the theories first, then apply them later.
In recent years, I have stopped giving one-size-fits-all training and team-building seminars. Instead, I do workshops for clients based on their current experience. I let them struggle through real problems and move forward together. This way, they gain far more skills and build a far stronger team than canned seminars or workshops, even though these were well designed.
To the entrepreneur, ideas without action are worthless. Our best learning isn’t separated from work; it’s embedded in it. The best way to test ideas is to try them out. Offer a new recipe, clothing item, or try a marketing gimmick or service on the ground as you interact with your customers. Learn as you go. The truth: Always combine learning with action.
Myth #7: Leadership is too risky.
Many business owners find developing leaders not worth their while, much less that are they expected or required to do so, because making leaders is not usually a valued endeavor in small organizations. Nevertheless you can do things differently. I held a strategic planning retreat for a small school, and everyone was present, from the president down to the support and maintenance crew. On the second day, an articulate young man rose to share discussion points that he culled from his small group. Management was stunned because he was a janitor, and yet he was talking about a number of company issues that made a lot of sense. This experience shows that an employer would do well to recognize the great risk in not developing his staff’s leadership potential. The truth: Leadership is worth the risk.
Myth #8: Filipinos can’t.
“That doesn’t work here.” “My workers can’t.” “They need me.” It saddens me when I hear an employer sell Filipino workers short. The rest of the world believes Filipinos are among the best, most well-prepared, productive, and flexible workers on the planet. And they hire eight million of them to prove it! Merely stepping on an airplane doesn’t transform anyone, and the potential is always there. It’s the work environment that limits quality and productivity the most. What does your work environment do to your potential leaders? Does it stifle or inspire them? The truth: Filipinos can and do – everywhere.
Peter Malvicini, PhD, is a strategic management consultant specializing in organizational learning, change, and effectiveness. Over the last 12 years, he has worked in a dozen countries designing and managing workshops and executive retreats for planning, program evaluation, and training to help people increase productivity, quality, and job satisfaction. He may be reached at pgml@cornell.edu.
