The case of the disappearing leader
If the last two years has taught us anything about leadership, it’s this: In the face of crisis, leaders need to step up and do what’s best for their people…not what’s best for themselves, their ego, their power and control. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all seen what happens when leaders take the latter route.
The challenges of the past two years (aka the covid years) have shone the light on who the world’s greatest leaders are and left us looking for the others who disappeared when the going got tough.
What have these greatest leaders taught us?
Real leaders will step up to any and all challenges that are thrown their way (and holy smokes this theory has rang true over the past two years).
Real leaders tackle everything (no matter how difficult it may be) with a “get it done” attitude and approach, even in the face of fear, adversity and uncertainity.
Real leaders take care of their people (aka their most valuable assets) above and beyond anything else. Period.
In the face of crisis, leadership is not about:
Protecting the leaders and their personal power
Proving their right and everyone else is wrong
Hiding in fear and denial
Being the first to jump in the dinghy while the ship goes down
These practices may have worked for some leaders before the pandemic, but they sure aren’t working now.
Here’s the thing: People will also ways base their opinions on how you handle the tough times, not when everything is running smoothly. Leaders need to model the way with grit, resilience, leadership gumption and show their teams that they will always have their backs….even if they need to respectively disagree, they know that there is always a solution. No matter what!