Why Do You Want to Be a Leader?
There are good – and much less valid – reasons to want to be a leader, so it’s important to think through the WHY before making the decision. Your purpose in choosing a leadership path could be the difference between becoming a great or mediocre leader.
Watch Digging Deeper this week as Dennis encourages you to carefully consider the reasons for choosing (or deciding NOT to pursue) a leadership role. We’d love to hear what has motivated you to get to where you are today. Please share with us in the comments below.
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Good morning, everybody. Dennis Engelbrecht with The Family Business Institute, Digging Deeper.
This blog, of course, goes out to a lot of leaders and a lot of aspiring leaders. So, was thinking a lot recently about why do
you want to be a leader? Or maybe for some of you, why not? Why not be a leader? What's motivating you? Are your
motivations good motivations, are they pure? Or are they destructive? And that may determine your success on your
leadership path one way or another.
Of course, when we think about the destructive or not so good motivators, ego, of course, is a big motivator of people
wanting to get ahead and wanting to be a leader. With ego, I guess basically, you want to feel good about yourself.
Sometimes you want to hear yourself talk. I guess I do that too much. Maybe you feel like you're too good to take orders
from whoever is giving you those orders, whoever you're reporting to.
But in reality, the vast majority of leaders out there have earned their right to be those leaders. So if you're taking orders
from somebody, it's probably from somebody who's earned the right to be there, the right to be a leader. So the right
question is really what have you done to earn your right to lead or be a leader?
So, getting ahead in life is another motivation for leadership. Generally speaking, the leaders make more money than the
followers. It's not always the case. You can certainly have some skills that are very high paying, and you can do that in
construction as well. And for those of you for whom leadership's not right, there's certainly nothing wrong with just being
great at what you do. But getting ahead in life, generally speaking, the leaders do make more. And I don't think there's
anything wrong with wanting to get ahead in life, to take better care of your family, to live a better life, all of those things.
But leaders not only make more, they also probably work harder, work longer, they face more challenges, they face more
stress, and maybe it's not for everybody. And the alternative is if you want to be good at a skill and make more in that
skill, hone that skill, advance in your trade, and perhaps you can lead a more balanced life. So, getting ahead in life is one
motivator, but it's not the be all, end all.
Capabilities. We need good leaders. We need the brightest, the most talented, greatest communicators, those with vision,
who operate from a solid value base. If that describes you, we need you as a leader. And that's a good reason to want to
be a leader, because you have the ability, the skills to be effective in that position.
Another reason to be a leader is to accomplish great things. There may be things as you look out in your business or even
in society that you say, "Boy, I wish I could change that." Well, you can. But you got to get out there and you got to lead,
and you got to do it. If you don't do anything, there won't be any change, at least that you create. There'll be plenty of
change. Just, you'll be the follower of the change, not the leader of the change. But you can accomplish great things as a
leader. It could be new things, growth through the business, whatever. And I think that's a really good reason to want to
be a leader.
Let's talk a little bit about reluctant leaders. Why not be a leader? Well, a lot of folks don't feel comfortable being out
front. They may lack confidence or lack ego in a sense, may not think that they're worthy of that. And some just don't have
the skills. Some introverted people maybe don't feel like their skills, or their personality is a fit for that, although there are
certainly plenty of introverted, great leaders in every business and over time. So that that's not necessarily a perfect reason
to be reluctant.
But even if you are reluctant, but you're capable, perhaps you're obligated in a sense to overcome those issues that you
may think prevent you from being a leader, and you're probably able to overcome them. And then serve, because
leadership is really a lot about serving. So that's another good reason to be a leader, even if you're reluctant, is because
you can accomplish great things, you can serve many purposes in being a leader. So my encouragement to you is if you
can be a leader, be a leader. If you need balance, and that's not for you, that's certainly very much okay. But for those of
you who can lead and think you have the right stuff, work on it and be a great leader and create the change that we need
in our businesses and in society.
Dennis Engelbrecht, Digging Deeper.
