Leadership
Seven Common
Misconceptions
Let’s start with some mythbusting…
I believe there are many
misconceptions
surrounding
leaders
and
leadership
development.
These
misconceptions alienate people
from starting the learning
process and can even stop
individuals from thinking of
themselves as leaders. Let me
explain.
Myth One: You have to have a
title to lead
I often hear people say that
leadership is purely the
responsibility of CEO’s and
managers, people with a formal
title in their role. I disagree.
Some of the most amazing
leaders I have come across
have no formal position at all.
I think of the hospital orderly
who, when asked about his job,
described it not as pushing
beds from ward to ward, but as
being the eyes and the ears of
the hospital, helping people
when they were looking lost or
seeing spills before anyone else
and cleaning them up even
December 2016 L.O.G.I.C
when it wasn’t his job. Seeing
what needed to be done and
doing it. He said he saw his role
as one of serving the people he
came into contact with on a
daily basis, any way he could.
He didn’t have ‘leader’ in his
job title but I think he showed
great leadership.
Leadership doesn’t require a
title. In fact sometimes people
with leader in their title show
very
little
leadership.
Leadership is about your
everyday
behaviour
and
actions. It’s about who you are
being while you’re doing what
you’re doing. As Stephen Covey
astutely noted “leadership is a
choice not a position”.
Anyone can lead. You can lead.
Yes you.
Myth Two: You need to have
qualifications to lead
Without wanting to offend
people with qualifications I
have met many individuals with
post-graduate qualifications in
management and/or leadership
that I would not let loose with
my goats, let alone let them
One of New Zealand’s most
respected adult educators, Linda
Hutchings is on a mission to
dramatically improve the way we
develop and support our aspiring
leaders. Linda chooses to work
with people who want to make a
profound positive difference in
their family, in their community as
well as their workplace. With over
25 years’ experience as a catalyst
for learning, Linda has a
phenomenal reputation for making
learning thought provoking and her
sessions are life changing and,
heaven forbid, even enjoyable! She
is fascinated by what works in
practice
and
while
theory
underpins her work, she is always
driven by the question – “how do
you actually do that?” Whether it’s
facilitating
a
meeting
that
encourages
vigorous,
healthy
debate, raising that uncomfortable
body odour issue with a team
member or influencing team
culture you can be sure Linda has
done the research and thinking
around how best to develop the
competence and confidence to
tackle the issue.
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