Do you see yourself as a leader?
Neither a follower nor a leader be.
PROMPT: Leader
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Tag Archives: leader
PROMPT: Leader / Follower
Are you a leader or a follower?
That’s a tough one because I think most people who would describe themselves as followers have failed to write their story boldly enough. Yet, the majority of people who describe themselves as leaders are more full of hot-air than of the capacity to inspire others to action.
I’d say, overall, I’m neither a good follower nor a good leader, but in varied contexts – as necessary – I can pull off either.
I think it might just be a false dichotomy.
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PROMPT: Good Leader
What makes a good leader?
I don’t think I know, not really. But I don’t feel bad because I don’t think a lot of people who consider themselves experts do either. For example, one of the biggest cons in academia is that professors in business schools often get paid much more than their science and humanities counterparts on the presumption that they would go run businesses if they weren’t paid a higher salary than the others. Most of them would not. The idea that a thorough theoretical knowledge of the world of commerce and the operations of a corporation would translate into all the X-factors needed to head a company (e.g. charisma, risk-acceptance profile, creativity, and an internal emotional landscape that borders on [or is outright] psychopathic) seems laughable. If that’s the way the world worked a quartet of music professors would be outselling the Beatles and the ranks of Olympic gold medalists would be swollen with Kinesiology PhDs.
NOTE: I should explain the “psychopathy” crack. Many of us have quite enough angst from making decisions that seem to have the potential to ruin our own lives. Some can take a little more angst and are ok making decisions that might mess up not only their own lives, but also those of their children. It takes a special kind of reptilian-like nature (beneath the appearance of charm and polished interpersonal skills) to regularly make decisions that can screw up the lives of complete strangers by the hundreds or thousands.
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PROMPT: Leader
Do you see yourself as a leader?
That’s a strange question, at it seems to be one of the few traits for which one’s self assessment is meaningless. i.e. if one sees oneself as a leader, but no one will follow one… “Teacher” is similar. One may see oneself as a teacher and might even have all manner of certifications and credentials, but if no one wants to learn from one, it’s not clear that it’s a meaningful title.
That said, I don’t see myself as a leader… but I’m even less of a follower.
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