Insight #116:
What do the letters ‘L E A D’ spell? Lead as in leader or lead as in heavy?
The answer is? Both!
And so it is with leadership. Sometimes it means ‘to lead’ and other times it means ‘to weigh down.’ Sometimes it means “let’s go” and other times it means “slow down.”
An effective leader inspires you, making you want to do something. It is that wanting to, that self-desire, which makes the doing so much lighter. But an effective leader also has the savvy to rein you in, to curb your irrational enthusiasm, to make you pace yourself so you don’t flame out before time out.
You will be a much more effective leader when you decide in advance which ‘lead’ in leadership you should use in any situation. Should you lead to make lighter or lead to slow down?
Of course, there is another lead in leadership. The one that means edge, advantage, supremacy. The one that trumpets, “Because I am supreme, I have the edge and the advantage over you.”
That’s the lead we don’t need explained to us. We understand it through daily experience.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
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“There’s no fun in leadership if you must be in front in unpleasant situations.” The Chief Nonsense Officer
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