Are You A Good Leader?

Coach: Part of the answer lies in the situation. This must be true because we see men and women who are famous in one sphere of activity falling flat on their faces when they attempt some venture in another arena.

Client: Even so there must be some common denominators? Some strengths that separate the good leaders from the ordinary?

Coach: Yes, I think that’s probably true. There are a host of qualities that mark the good leader, you’ll find these listed on my website on the leadership page.

What is interesting is, which from this long list of good qualities, are the ones that good leaders find difficult to transfer to new situations?

Client: Are you suggesting that there are leadership skills that are not transferable?

Coach: Yes, I think that is partially true. If you consider Judgement for instance. It would seem likely that a leader might use certain criteria for making judgments in one field which are wholly inappropriate or inapplicable in another field.

Client: I can understand that, but it is only one partial weakness.

Coach: OK, so what happens when we consider Communication. In some arenas there is a lot of industry jargon or technical terms that everyone in the industry understands readily, but which are a closed shop to outsiders. Anyone not knowing the jargon could be considered an outsider and not taken seriously.

Client: Surely that is just a matter of vocabulary, which can be easily learned.

Coach: Not just vocabulary, but usage. And it is the familiarity with usage that makes you a member of the “club.”

Client: Anything else?

Coach: Yes, on my leadership page I mention the ability to Pick Good People as being an important strength. I suspect that it is much more difficult to pick good people when you are working in an area with which you are unfamiliar. You wouldn’t know what skills were important at each level of the hierarchy.

Client: Are you suggesting then that good leaders can only be good leaders in one arena?

Coach: Well no, funnily enough, I’m not. Experience shows that some leaders find it relatively easy to move around. Politicians seem to experience relatively little difficulty in changing jobs. However that may be because the civil service is accustomed to constant changes of leader and knows how to manage this type of change.

There are also many examples of senior leaders in the armed forces, in industry, sport and many other fields transferring their leadership skills successfully. All I am pointing out here is that some very good leaders find it quite difficult to transfer. So I have highlighted some of the areas which I think can cause problems.

Client: What can I learn from this?

Coach: That there are at least three areas where good leaders need to make sure that their skills are transferable in order to build a more interesting and wide-ranging career.

If you would like a free consultation to discuss how to make sure you are a good leader, please don’t hesitate to Contact me.

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“If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you. If you really make them think, they’ll hate you.”
Don Marquis