LOGIC 4 | Page 12

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. 10