Pain in Leadership

When I was young, I used to think of being a leader as someone that gets to go play golf at the country club, eat good food, and visit with buddies at the snack bar afterwards.  Then I grew up and found that being a leader is like playing rugby – even when you win, you get hurt.  In a “grass is always greener” world, people seem to think that being the leader is all fun and games and there is no pain.  That cannot be further from truth, and anyone that has ever been a leader knows that leading often involves an intense level of pain. 

 

We all know pain is bad don’t we…  Is it really? 

 

Accepting leadership involves a process of accepting a high level of responsibility for others and as such, we are then tasked with many potentially painful undertakings. A good leader must have difficult conversations with people to hold him accountable.  A good leader must accept responsibility when things go wrong – must fall on their sword and take the blame.  A good leader has to lead by example, even when that means reaching deeper inside to move forward.  A good leader has to fire people at times.  There are times when the leader must go out and lead the battle and suffer the slings and arrows so the team can be shielded.  And if a leader does all of the above, they become stronger, and lead better.  

 

General wisdom says that pain is bad, and in this case, that is not true.  Leaders willingly accept the pain that comes with leadership because someone must lead.  More than that, great leaders, willingly accept the pain of leadership because they know that this defines the difference between those that are willing to step up and those that choose to follow.

 

Written by Scott Klososky  scott@giantpartners.biz