I suspect no one understands leadership better than Warren Bennis. On top of that, he's a fabulous read: panache, insight, the whole ball of wax. In Monday's BusinessWeek he guest-posted while Jack and Suzy Welch are on vacation (they're filled with insight, too, but their stuff doesn't leap from the page).
Bennis believes you should accept those leadership roles and act the part when they're offered. In other words, when you get stuck with a position, take it on, even if you're scared out of your wits. Bennis plays around with the greats in his article: FDR, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. But what he has to say is just as applicable to Gen-Yers who are staring at their first leadership opportunity after a year or two on the job. Bennis tells of an interaction with Sydney Pollack, the late Oscar-winning director who said that he "was at a loss when he first moved behind the camera, so he simply acted like a director. "I even tried to dress like a director--clothes that were kind of outdoorsy," he said.
The article title tells it all. Acting the Part of a Leader: Why greatness is often paired with theatricality--and can emerge so suddenly.
The nugget in the article is Bennis' statement that everyone who takes on leadership believes that the role is too big, and that they're not up to it. But accepting the risk of failure and making the necessary adaptations is the first step to becoming a leader.
Over the past three years I've had Gen-Yers stop me to talk about a new responsibility and their fears. The conversations went like this: I've never led a team before. What do I say? What if I fail? How do I manage the differences in my team?
What's been your experience with leadership?