Five Myths About Leadership

There are plenty of misconceptions and myths that people embrace about leaders and leadership. Here are five common ones:


1. The Management Myth
A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one the same. Up until a few years ago, books that claimed to be on leadership were often really about management. The main difference between the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processes. The best way to test whether a person can lead rather than just manage is to ask him to create positive change. Managers can maintain direction, but they can't change it. To move people in a new direction, you need influence.


2. The Entrepreneur Myth
Frequently, peoplo assume that all salespeople and entrepreneurs are leaders. But that's not always the case. You may remember the Ronco commercials that appeared on television years ago. They sold items such as the Veg-O-Matic, Pocket Fisherman, and Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler. Those products were the brainchildren of an entrepreneur named Ron Popeil. Called the salesman of the century, he has also appeared in numerous infomercials for products such as apray-on relief for baldness and food dehydrating devices.
Popeil is certainly enterprising, innovative, and sucessful, especially if you measure him by the $300 million in sales his products have earned.. But that doesn't make him a leader. People may be buying what he has to sell, but they're not following him. At best, he is able to persuade people for a moment, but he holds no long-term influence with them.


3. The Knowledge Myth
Sir Francis Bacon said, "knowledge is power." Most people, believing power is the essence of leadership, naturally assume that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are leaders. But that isn't automatically true. You can visit any major university and meet brilliant research scientists and philosophers whose ability to think is so high that it's off the charts, but whose ability to lead is so low that it doesn't even register on the charts. IQ doesn't necessarily equate to leadership.

4. The Pioneer Myth
Another misconception is that anyone who is out in front of the crowd is a leader. But being first isn't always the same as leading. For example: Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Since his historic ascent in 1953, many people have "followed" him in achieving that feat. But that doesn't make Hillary traveled to the South Pole in 1958 as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, he was accompanying another leader, Sir Vivian Fuchs. To be a leader, a person has to not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.

5. The Position Myth
The greatest misunderstanding about leadership is that people think it is based on position, but it's not. Stanley Huffty affirmed: "it's not the position that makes the leader; it's the leader that makes the position."
Look at what happened several years ago at Cordiant, the advertising agency formerly known as Saatchi & Saatchi. In 1994, institutional investors at Saatchi & Saatchi forced the board of directors to dismiss Maurice Saatchi, the company's CEO. What was the result? Several executives followed him out. So did many of the company's largest accounts, including British Airways and Mars, the candy maker. Saatchi's influence was so great that his departure caused the company's stock to fall immediately. Saatchi lost his title and position, but he continued to be the leader.

Fonte: MAXWELL, John C. Leadership, 101 - What Every Leader Needs to Know. Pg. 64-67. Thomas Nelson, USA, 2002.