The Nature of Leadership and Career

read time 4 minutes

Welcome to The Nature of Leadership and Career, a weekly newsletter where I provide 1 illustration and 3 ideas to help you connect to your career, leadership, or work journey in a more natural way.

Today at a glance

A shorter, but punchy, read this week!

• Illustration of the week

  What leaders think employees want vs what they actually want

• The Nature of Leadership

  Why should anyone be led by you

  What employees really want

  Question cheat code

Illustration of the Week

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The Nature of Leadership

Why should anyone be led by you?

This is one of the most confronting questions a leader can be asked.

Why should anyone be led by you?

Stop for a second and think through your answer

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No really.

Don’t keep reading.

Take out a pen and paper. Write down your answer.

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What was your experience in answering this question?

If it was uncomfortable, you are not alone.

Why should anyone be led by you? is the title of the HBR Article and book by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones.

At the start of the article Goffee and Jones state:

“If you want to silence a room of executives, try this small trick. Ask them, “Why would anyone want to be led by you?”

So cheekily, a number of years ago, colleagues and I designed this question into an executive leadership training program we delivered.

True to form, there were uncomfortable laughs and a hush in the room.

Why is this such a tricky question to answer?

Leaders struggle to answer this question because it takes a follower-centric view.

Many leaders believe they have “done their time” and earned their position.

A position often awarded to them by “above”.

They believe they are entitled to the leadership role.

Many leaders will answer this confronting question by talking about their skills, and results.

Skills and results are valid points, and often the key contributors that helped the leader get promoted into the leadership role.

But this type of answer is about the leader and their reputation.

Who employees want to be led by

Employees only care about what you have achieved and your skills as a leader up to a certain point.

The point where they feel they can learn and grow from your guidance, mentoring, and coaching.

What employees generally seek more than your reputation and achievements as a leader, is for you to see their light as a person, and to help them shine brighter.

They want you to help make them “great”. Whatever that means for each individual.

They want you to create a space that feels safe, engaging and purposeful.

Goffee and Jones’ research found that the leaders that people most wanted to follow, had four unexpected qualities in common:

1. Sharing their vulnerability: by selectively revealing their weakness, leaders also revealed their approachability and humanity.

2. Being situational-sensors: the ability to collect and interpret soft data helps the leader know just when and how to act.

3. Practice tough empathy: by caring intensely about the work employees do, whilst still being able to give candid feedback and coaching.

4. Capitalizing on their uniqueness: as a leader. They are able to hone in on what makes them different and use this to their advantage.

You don’t have to copy these four exact qualities, rather you can use them as inspiration.

Question Cheat Code

Your turn… again:

Why should anyone be led by you cheat code:

1.  Do a self-audit on your leadership in the last 3 – 12 months:

• Leadership style - (one of my favourite frameworks is Daniel Goleman’s 6 Leadership Styles)

• What you feel you offer employees

• Your leadership gaps

• Soft and hard skills

2.  Look at any upward feedback you have received e.g., 360 evaluations, performance reviews, thank you emails, to further fill out the four dot points above.

3.  Look at Goffee and Jones’ 4 ‘unexpected’ categories to cross reference which inspirational leadership qualities you have.

Fill out the cheat code to help formulate your answer:

Hopefully, this gives you a stronger sense of your leadership compass.

Let me know how you go!

Let’s continue to conversation

• Send feedback on:

  • this issue or any questions you have on leader

  • any questions you have on leadership, or career

  • future topics you would like explored in the newsletter.

• Contact me if you would like to explore leadership or career coaching for you, or your team.

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