I well remember military leaders who would brag how they distained administration, and from what I observed in their work, it was true. Unfortunately, administration is at the core of successful leadership. Moreover, leaders are much easier to find than administrators, and when you find one who can lead and administer, you have found a winner (one who reaches the apex of his/her life’s work). I have observed it especially in the military where most of the leadership failures related more to administration than leadership.

We also see it in athletics, wherein great assistant coaches often fail miserably upon reaching their apex in a head coaching position, because they never had to deal with administration as assistant coaches. These coaches are still great leaders, but their modest administrative kit bag led to their demise as head coaches.