I’ve come across great leaders. Though there was one strange thing about them.
These great leaders didn’t know they were leaders.
Have you noticed this before?
This happens all the time. A new hire comes aboard the team. Before you know it, they’re able to organize other team members without being an actual leader.
Again and again, this happens. And many leaders sit back and wonder how this can be.
To me, what is happening is very simple:
Sometimes it’s difficult to feel fulfilled as a leader when you are currently working as a manager.
Sure, your bosses want you to be a leader (or so they tell you in your annual performance reviews), but real leadership involves having the freedom to envision the future and having the authority to make tough decisions that hopefully end up with results like “driving growth”, “reducing costs”, “streamlining operations”, or any other corporate buzz-phrase that sounds like you just stepped out of a powerful board meeting. But let’s face it, when you are a manager, your sole responsibility is to “manage” the day-to-day tasks as required by your boss.
Image by James Beene
So what’s a mid-level manager to do with all of their passion to lead and no real outlet to lead in?
