If The Leadership Fits…. Wear It.

What would business be like without leadership?  Based on the sheer amount of ink (and pixels) that is spent on the topic, it appears that leadership and the development of leadership skills are the most important factors in driving performance.

Some people are naturally born leaders.  These folks tend to have competitive, dominant personalities and they exert their will with little constraint.  It doesn't upset them to know that others may not agree with them. They believe in themselves and their ideas are always better than other's… at least in their own opinion.  Even when they recognize value in someone else's ideas they simply take possession of the "parts" they like and incorporate the ideas into their own. 

Some express their leadership through direct command.  This autocratic approach is often looked at harshly by staff and other managers but there are many subordinates who thrive with autocratic leaders. They like being told what to do and they like knowing exactly what is expected of them.  In extreme, autocratic leaders tend see people as objects like chess pieces.  They are not interested in the lives of others and don't even understand the concept of empathy.  They have no patience to listen to stories about someone's daughter's graduation from an Ivy League school.  They only care about the business and solving business problems.