Leadership
Is it really that complicated?
According to a quick Google search, more than 1,200 books have been written about leadership in 2025 alone. I couldn’t discover if that astonishing number of volumes is consistent year over year, but regardless, that is a bunch of books and words published on the subject each year. All of which got me thinking…
We use the terms management and leadership style synonymously. That makes sense in that one individual(s) is attempting to get someone(s) to do something. When I think about “leadership styles”, I think; autocratic, bureaucratic, charismatic, coach, democratic, laissez-faire, and visionary. I know that is not an exhaustive list and I am positive you’ll be able to think of even more “styles”.
But when I think of leading or managing, I don’t think in terms of styles. I don’t think of methods or approaches. I think in terms of our shared humanity. Whether in business, politics, or our personal lives, stuff happens. Situations arise, either problems to be overcome or objects to be achieved, and within that context sometimes we need to move forward as group, sometimes alone. Sometimes we direct a course of action and sometimes we follow. The bottom line to any of this is we are not in control of whatever the situation is confronting us. Regardless of our role, we react.
It is in our individual reactions to people, events, problems, and even successes that drive chaos or calm. Finding the Eye of the Storm is elusive. Navigating the challenges of business, having the other people’s livelihoods dependent on a business’ success or failure is daunting. Heck, leaving business success or failure aside, navigating life is daunting.
It doesn’t matter if we are the leader or the follower, if we deal with everyone with #honesty and with openness. If we approach our challenges with #curiosity. If we treat each other with #compassion and #kindness. If we are #grateful to those who participate with us, and we remain #humble in what we do… the path gets smoother. There are still going to be challenges and setbacks, but when we face them together, when we face them with a shared humanity… we go farther.