Then there are way too many managers who are in the position to be a “leader” but should not be. There are even more managers who think they are leaders but are just as crap.

Business does not recognise one over the other and often established businesses do not like leaders.

After all leaders don’t always toe the line. Leaders question. Leaders inspire. Leaders empower. Leaders delegate. Leaders make mistakes and then admit them. Leaders learn. Leaders encourage. Push. Drive. Set examples. Take a back seat. They recognise their weakness and empower those to fill the gaps.

And that makes them a threat ;-)

So for those who follow. Choose your leaders carefully. Because there are a lot of so called leaders who have not filled in the gaps that need filling ;-))

It reminds me. Surround yourself with those that you look up to and those who have a part of something you admire and respect. If you are around dynamic inspiring individuals you are more likely to be inspired and to inspire others. And at the very least you will learn something.

And if it does not all work out then come the revolution it will all be about “Vive la République and Vive la Résistance!” and we shall all follow Jye.

He’s out in Australia this week and speaking at a conference tomorrow.

I can’t link directly, but here’s a grab from a post I wrote about him a while back.

If you don’t know Dean Williams, you really should look him up. He’s a very smart guy, Harvard lecturer, and author of a book called Real Leadership: helping people and organizations face their toughest challenges

In this meaty tome, Williams talks about the concept of real leadership vs counterfeit leadership. The latter refers to the modern day style of lead and follow, the setting of a ‘vision’ and use of dominance and control to get people to ‘follow’ a certain course of action – even if the vision is misguided! In contrast, he defines real leadership as mobilizing people in a way that helps them to face difficult problems themselves.

Real leadership means getting people to focus on the ‘real’ threat or opportunity that will ultimately help the organisation progress. This approach demands adaptive behavior from an organisation and its people: shifts in values and behavior, as well as new ways of thinking about a problem. But it’s also where the real work begins and breakthroughs are made. It’s a very powerful model, and one relevant to any company (in the book, Williams uses examples from his experience in government and a bunch of corporates). It’s also an approach that we as communications experts should be thinking about when engaging with clients.