The 5 Biggest Myths about Leadership
By Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D
1. Great leaders are born, not made.
Answer: Both, but mostly made.
Although there are some inborn qualities and traits that predispose a person to leadership, research has shown that leadership is about two-thirds developed, or “made,” and only about one-third born. This is good news, however, suggesting that most people can work to develop their leadership capacity and effectiveness.
2. Leadership and management are fundamentally different.
Answer: Both are needed
While we may be able to divide tasks into those that require “management” (decision making, recordkeeping) and the more abstract aspects of “leadership” (e.g., creating a vision, inspiring followers), the truth is that anyone who supervises others needs to be both a manager and a leader in order to be effective.
3. Successful leadership is about power and control.
Answer: The most effective leaders empower followers and work with them
Although leaders typically possess power, top-down, command-and-control leadership is clearly not as effective as working together with followers to co-produce leadership. Effective leadership is more about the relationship than about who is in charge and giving the orders.
Moreover, too much power can be a danger to leaders and to the organizations that they lead, as we have seen in the many instances of business and government leaders who have believed they are above the law.
4. Men make better leaders — that's why most great leaders are men.
Answer: False. Research suggests that women tend to have greater leadership potential than men.
The differences are small, but women, as a group, tend to have more transformational leadership qualities than do men. The reasons that most high-level leaders are men has less to do with their effectiveness and more to do with bias, tradition, and barriers for women to reach top-level leadership positions.
5. There is a shortage of great leaders today.
Answer: There is no definitive research, but I suspect that this is false.
Many of our world leaders, and some of the leaders of the largest and most powerful corporations, have clearly fallen short of being labeled “great.” But there are many leaders out there, in business, government, and particularly in nonprofit organizations, who I would identify as “great” leaders. Claremont McKenna College co-sponsors a prize for leaders in the non-profit sector, and these amazing social entrepreneurs, winners of the Kravis Prize for leadership, are clearly “great leaders.”
Answer: Both, but mostly made.
Although there are some inborn qualities and traits that predispose a person to leadership, research has shown that leadership is about two-thirds developed, or “made,” and only about one-third born. This is good news, however, suggesting that most people can work to develop their leadership capacity and effectiveness.
2. Leadership and management are fundamentally different.
Answer: Both are needed
While we may be able to divide tasks into those that require “management” (decision making, recordkeeping) and the more abstract aspects of “leadership” (e.g., creating a vision, inspiring followers), the truth is that anyone who supervises others needs to be both a manager and a leader in order to be effective.
3. Successful leadership is about power and control.
Answer: The most effective leaders empower followers and work with them
Although leaders typically possess power, top-down, command-and-control leadership is clearly not as effective as working together with followers to co-produce leadership. Effective leadership is more about the relationship than about who is in charge and giving the orders.
Moreover, too much power can be a danger to leaders and to the organizations that they lead, as we have seen in the many instances of business and government leaders who have believed they are above the law.
4. Men make better leaders — that's why most great leaders are men.
Answer: False. Research suggests that women tend to have greater leadership potential than men.
The differences are small, but women, as a group, tend to have more transformational leadership qualities than do men. The reasons that most high-level leaders are men has less to do with their effectiveness and more to do with bias, tradition, and barriers for women to reach top-level leadership positions.
5. There is a shortage of great leaders today.
Answer: There is no definitive research, but I suspect that this is false.
Many of our world leaders, and some of the leaders of the largest and most powerful corporations, have clearly fallen short of being labeled “great.” But there are many leaders out there, in business, government, and particularly in nonprofit organizations, who I would identify as “great” leaders. Claremont McKenna College co-sponsors a prize for leaders in the non-profit sector, and these amazing social entrepreneurs, winners of the Kravis Prize for leadership, are clearly “great leaders.”
Source:Cutting-Edge Leadership:
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