Take Your Stand

Don’t hide behind your desk shying away from the tough decisions, to do so is to abdicate your role as the leader.

I vividly remember my last year of school. I was absent from class for a few days and crawled up in bed with a high temperature only to return to the classroom and find, to my surprise, that I had been appointed class prefect in absentia. It was quite the surprise because it’s usually a position one campaigns for.

As a wide-eyed teenager I had little awareness that I had any substantive leadership skills let alone being appointed class prefect. Nonetheless, I accepted the role.  Unbeknown to me, the clouds were brewing. It seemed that the vice prefect, William, was not as enthused as the others about my appointment and had his sights firmly set on my position.

It only took the Headmaster popping his head into a rowdy class one day for his sinister plan to unfold. Mr Coker asked in a rather stern voice, “Who is the class prefect!” I immediately stood up, and to my utter chagrin and amazement, Willy also stood up! Stunned for a brief moment, I was going to forcefully object but figured if he wanted the role that desperately I might as well sit down! So I did. Willy had abruptly staged a sinister coup d’etat!

My classmates were mortified and they were having none of it! After all, they had voted me class prefect and therefore went to great lengths to reinstate me. They also expressed their outrage when asked to use the word ‘usurp’ during an English test.  “Willy usurped authority from Edward” was the prevailing sentence.

That experience imbibed a crucial leadership lesson that has stood me in good stead ever since; there are those who are lurking and indeed waiting to take your position if you shirk your responsibilities as the leader.

If you are not leading the way, making the tough calls and are reticent to stand up when it matters most you leave yourself vulnerable to those who are only too willing to take up your position and responsibilities; perks and all.

In a nutshell, it is the person who leads from the front that is actually the leader, not the one with the title on his business card. It’s the team leader who stands up when the chips are down that people nod at in the office and pat on the shoulder and look at at crunch time. Leadership is about standing up to be counted when it matters most. It is when customers are writing bad reviews or when the shares are taking a hit that your leadership skills really come to the fore. That’s when you really earn all those zeros on your pay cheque.

So if you’ve been shying away avoiding the hard stuff that separates great leaders from mediocre leaders then it is high time to face your responsibilities; square your shoulders come out from behind your desk and transform from Clark Kent to Superman. It is time to tackle those head scratching decisions that keep you awake at night.

Now that’s true leadership!