"The Crucibles of Leadership"

"The stress of leadership, for the least of the leaders to the greatest, often brings pain, failure, rejection, and rebellion" per Captain Bruce Newel, USN (ret).  These are the crucibles of leadership, and without a brave heart (I refer to it as executive courage in my new book), leaders will not possess the courage to set the standards of expectation sufficiently high to achieve balanced excellence.  Moreover, leaders must possess the human understanding and situational awareness to know when and how hard to push the workers, soldiers, or players to reach the expected standards.  Finally, in order to be lead, the membership must be inspired and believe in the competence, integrity, and wisdom of the leader.

Add to the above, that, there will always be those within the ranks who are jealous of the leader's position and success and will torture every new idea or plan the leader announces.  For that reason, the best leaders will consider the timing for the expression of their ideas for change and remain vigilant for the naysayers, foot draggers, and lovers of stasis who make it their mission to undermine his intent and strategy.

Given the above, why would anyone want to be a leader?  In some cases, it is because of the opportunities inherent in seeing others excel, the frustration of serving under leaders who exhibit all the skills of incompetence, and the rewards of possessing a vision and giving your all in seeing it to fruition through the hard work and discipline of others.

Of course, there are the nominal, popularity seeking leaders who avoid the hard decisions or pass them off to adhoc committees, focus groups, or staff recommendations.  They love the praise, affirmation, and public attention associated with being in charge.  But by failing to hold others accountable and seeking cover for their own decisions (no decision is a decision), the ship begins to list and the nominal leader seeks the escape hatch.

The nominal leader "accepts the glory and passes the blame"; the real leader shares the glory and takes the blame."