Leadership All Week: Accepting the Challenge

Why Most Leadership Sucks, Including Yours... is a provocative manifesto proposed by John W. McKenna at The Leadership Epidemic .

John issued a challenge:

"While I have some definite opinions on why this is the case, I know that not everyone feels the same way I do. As such, I am trying to develop a more-complete and balanced understanding of what other people think. To accomplish this task, I am challenging Bloggers to post an entry supporting their position."

While I can't yet determine where John is really headed with the totality of his thinking, I'm intrigued by his challenge. And, he deserves a tip of the hat for reaching out in order to add to his own understanding. That's what community and collaboration is all about.

So here's what I'm going to do. Each day this week, I'm going to do one or more short/long posts on the topic depending on my schedule. (Argh! I still work for a living). Each will address some aspect of leadership and reflect:

Why Most Leadership Doesn't Suck, Including Mine...

See you later today.

Comments

[John W. McKenna]

Steve

I look forward to your week of posting.

Take care...

JWM

[Jim Stroup]

Steve - i look forward with great anticipation to your treatment of this!

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Jim,

Thanks for the encouragement. This is a topic of interest to both of us and I think that there is more to the issue than good/bad.

Let's see what unfolds...

[Leslie]

Could part of the problem be that you and I won't let someone lead because we refuse to be followers?

Perhaps instead of arrogant, "sucky" leadership, we sometimes have arrogant, "sucky" followership.

I think you hit a real nerve with these 2 statements. Is the problem with leadership today that we all of us in our follower roles don't know how to behave? Are we all so much in control mode that we can't follow effectively? I wonder how much better the performance of our leaders would be if us followers enabled them to be good leaders.

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Leslie,

That's sort of where I'm heading with this as part of the series. I'm sure some will be offended at the thought that "we" could be part of "their problem."

But the fact of the matter is: I could name a few times when I know for sure that my own selfishness got in the way of someone effectively executing a good plan. So now when I start to get that twinge of wanting to resist something, I stop and ask myself whether it's the person, the plan, or me.

The answer isn't always pleasant but the truth helps everyone involved.

Thanks for weighing in...