I’m sure you’ve come across people who seem like incredible leaders on paper: they have the education, the experience, the knowledge. But once they’re in charge of a team… it all falls apart…
Why Some Leaders Look Great on Paper but Struggle in Practice
A while ago I was working with a young leader who had all the right qualities in his CV and he interviewed well. That’s why he was in that position. They got him there, leading a team that looked up to him to be led.
But he was failing.
He wasn’t equipped to inspire them and to create a thriving culture. Which is not necessarily a problem – leaders often ascend to leadership without the skills to lead, and they acquire them as they go, on and off the job.
The problem this particular leader had though… he struggled to build leadership skills because his idea of leadership was skewed.
Leadership Skills Don’t Develop Without Awareness
He saw it squarely as:
- Telling people what to do
- Having all the answers
- Being ‘boss’.
Pretty hard for him to spot the gaps in his skills through this narrow lens. Investing in a skill like… say… being a better listener… didn’t quite add up. How would that make him a better leader?
The real bottleneck was his definition of leadership. You simply can’t develop a skill you don’t believe matters.
And that’s where most leadership work actually needs to start. It also happens to be a big part of what I do with leaders.
All good things,
Juliet Robinson
Leadership and Change Specialist
