I've been musing for some time over a highly realistic article with the above title that appeared in the Wall Street Journal in November last year. The article begins by dismissing the issue of whether leaders are born or made, and continues with the truth that we really don't know whether we're leadership material until we try very hard to express it. Based on the recent brain science and orientation to growth, they're response is exceptionally accurate. A gloss of Daniel Coyle's book title might be: Leadership isn't born. It's grown.
The authors of the article, Preston Bottger and Jean-Louis Barsoux of IMD International, the Swiss-based MBA program, point out that senior level jobs are massive, complex and full of conflict. That's the best set-up for understanding leadership that I've ever seen. They also emphasize the political dimensions of leadership, that the higher a person goes, the more he or she must deal with other high-caliber people who know how to get what they want, are difficult, strong-willed and have a sharp appetite for power.
Although the authors focus on questions that execs should ask themselves about whether they want to be leaders, the questions are just as important for Gen-Yers moving into their first job.
How far do you want to go up the ladder?
Going up the ladder requires you to continuously make choices that will affect other people's lives and livelihood. Furthermore, you'll be doing this in a context where others will be competing with you and wanting the next job up.
Here's a useful exercise. Look at your immediate boss's job and ask whether you could do it as well or better yourself--honestly. And take a look further up the ladder. What must those people deal with on a daily basis? What will their jobs require that you currently lack the experience and tools for?
What are you really willing to invest?
I keep an old Spanish proverb in my front lobes at all times: "Purchase what you may, but pay for it." Everything comes with a price to it. You may want to lead, but it will require a great deal of investment. Leadership requires business smarts, people smarts, technical capabilities, but above all it is about power.
The brutal reality is that whatever else a leader must do, a leader must gain, exercise and retain power.
You will be giving up pleasures and there'll be plenty of questions about balancing personal and family life. A COO of one of America's leading firms once hired me for help in managing his time and work. He quietly informed me that he had to make some changes or there would be a divorce in the offing. (He was successful in making the changes!) That is not an unusual experience.
Furthermore, as a leader you must take people where they have never been before, in terms of perspectives, ideas and behaviors. A major piece of leadership is not only about your own willingness to make change, but also your ability to lead people to make change.
How will you keep it up?
Over several decades, you'll need to find ways to keep learning,maintaine cutting-edge expertise and especially keep yourself motivated. As often as not, you'll be unrecognized for your performance. The authors summarize the fundamental issues of keeping up as physical vitality, emotional flexibility and intellectual freshness.
One of the weaknesses of successful people is that once they arrive, they become closed, set in their ways and stop learning. My experience has been that that experience is more true of leaders than not. That may well be the reason that so few continue in leadership.
Yeah. You can grow leadership, and it's quite learnable, but the reality is that there are an awful lot of issues involved.
So. Do you really want to be a leader?