Let’s talk about what I call the leadership gap. Do you think leaders should be good at what they do or great at what they do?

Be careful. It’s a trick question. The right answer is…. Both.

You should be great at what is weak in others, but critical to the success of your organization. And you should be good at what you need others to be good at. By “good” I mean slightly better than them.

Here’s why. Many of us are not motivated by great because we believe that great is out of our reach. Yet we will aim to be good, even to be better than the leader, because we know that good is possible.

The trick is never to make the leadership gap so big that no one can follow you. Better to lead from only a few steps ahead, else you will be admired from afar by people who are no longer followers.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.