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Follow The Leader!
We follow leaders at work, in government and at home. But having the title doesn’t make someone wise, and being successful at one thing doesn’t make them an expert at everything. How do we decide whose guidance deserves our trust—and when to question it?
Leaders by design call the shots, provide the path for others to follow. There are leaders in government, leaders in business, leaders in communities, leaders in families among others, they provide guidance for their followers. But what is it that equips them to provide this guidance and advice?
It is always fascinating to see a person who has had some success in their business, or their career, and suddenly they are revered as experts in every aspect of life. A businessman makes a few good decisions, makes some money and suddenly their opinion on the economy of a country means something. An actor or actress can become famous, has a very successful acting career, and suddenly their opinion of who should be the president of the country means more than what anyone else thinks.
These people likely have no more knowledge about these things than any average person, in some cases they may have even less knowledge than your average citizen, yet what they say is considered meaningful simply because they are famous, or have made a success of something in their life.
Aside from the fascinating case of people’s opinions mattering more simply because of their fame or success, even when the advice given concerns something that the person is knowledgeable about, to what end should it be followed?
Should a leader simply be followed, without question, simply because of their status or position? Should every word a Founder, CEO, or President utter be followed without consideration or consultation?
There are many many cases in history where leaders, to varying terrible degrees, have misguided their followers and not only permitted, but also encouraged or even forced them to do terrible things.
As far back in history as you look, you will find leaders who guided their followers down very bad paths. Without followers they are simply bad people who did bad things, when they guided others down the same path, they can be considered leaders, I would think.
History offers stark warnings about unchecked power.
Political leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein caused immense suffering through their regimes. Their actions were not identical, but each shows the danger of power without meaningful accountability.
Business failures differ in scale and nature, but they also show why those in charge need scrutiny. The scandals at Enron under Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, Theranos under Elizabeth Holmes, and FTX under Sam Bankman-Fried exposed how reputations and confident promises can conceal serious wrongdoing. Employees, investors and customers paid heavily for trusting people whose claims deserved closer examination.
Holding a position of authority should never put someone beyond question.
There are huge, national and international companies that have collapsed, governments that have failed their people, religious groups that have led their followers into suicide pacts, and many many cases where the guidance was clearly wrong, yet not only were the leaders followed willingly, they were supported. Without the support they would never have achieved the devastating outcomes they all have.
Now to bring the conversation back, closer to home, what leaders do we all follow every day? Who guides us and provides direction to our daily lives?
In our jobs, it is simple to say “my boss leads,” and in our home life, “the parents, or parent, leads.”
Does the title make that person the expert, unable to provide bad guidance?
Your average parent has the title because they made a baby. This exercise does not provide any training, or instil any secret knowledge on these people, they have simply made a baby that they are now responsible for raising.
Starting a business, having the idea of a product or service you can provide, having the money to invest into it, or knowing how to make / do something specific, does not suddenly mean you know everything worth knowing about every aspect of running a business and becoming responsible for the livelihoods of all your employees.
Being a leader, taking on the responsibility of guiding others, should not be taken lightly and should include continuous learning and reviewing to ensure you are not simply providing bad advice and guidance to the people who are depending, trusting and relying on you.
Leaders take on a role, the CEO of a company should not be spending all their time cleaning the offices, or making the staff tea. Their employees need guidance and there are decisions that only they have the authority to make, if all their time is spent on mundane tasks and there is no time for them to provide that guidance and feedback, the company collapses.
This does not only apply to mundane tasks either. If the CEO is too busy working on big deals and in meetings with potential partners, and they have not set up a system for their employees to follow and allocated appropriate rights and privileges to others in the company, again there becomes a bottleneck in the organization that can collapse the entire business.
Follow that up with the people in charge having no time or interest in hearing about, and assisting with employees’ personal issues, not caring about the conditions and environment of their employees, and expecting that everyone will simply be happy with a pay check at the end of the month, again they will not have dedicated, motivated or loyal staff.
To take on the responsibility of a leader, you are also taking on the responsibility of ensuring the survival and growth of your employees. Their livelihood is provided by you, and bad decisions from a leader that collapse a business, also devastates the livelihood of all the employees.
This should not be taken lightly.
If employees are struggling to manage their work loads, not feeling that their jobs are contributing to their overall life goals, or any number of other negative feelings, if these are not addressed and solutions found, you will end up with unmotivated staff, and in cases lose their loyalty or passion to help the business succeed.
No matter how many deals you make or meetings you attend, if the machine behind your business fails, everything fails. If your car has the most powerful engine but no tyres, it will not work. Something as simple as a missing battery terminal in a car’s engine can make it an expensive ornament.
When you are looking for a leader to follow, you need to put your support behind someone who has your interests at heart. Not someone who only sees you as a temporary means of them accomplishing their own goals regardless of the cost or detriment of yourself.
A business leader should have an interest in their staff being able to live fulfilling lives, afford comforts and luxuries, achieve stability and happiness.
If your boss does not care about you having financial security, personal and family time, does not care or know of your passions and aspirations and help you with achieving them, you are likely following a leader who will use you until you have nothing left to give and then discard you for a replacement they can start the process over with.
If the government you vote for, wins, and then fails to fulfil any of the promises made. Fails to work towards improving the country, and focuses on self-enrichment of a select elite, you should not continue voting for that party with the hope that they will one day have a change of heart.
Your actions create the reality you live in, maybe not entirely, but they certainly contribute the majority towards it and your choices might be the difference between living a happy life and hating your entire existence on this planet at this time.
“Choose carefully who you follow, and keep the right to question them. A good leader should not need you to surrender your judgement.”
