5 Myths about leadership, CHECK IT OUT!

Along the years, there has been many people who are considerated as leaders. Politicians, sportsmen, managers, even actors. The fact is that, all of them, had qualities that make them look like leaders. 

Today people still has wrongs ideas about what leadership really is, there are many myths about this concept. I'm gonna talk about the most populars in this post.

FIRST MYTH: The myth of the administration. A very popular mistake about leadership and management are the same. Until a few years ago, books that claimed to be about leadership were usually really about management. The main difference between the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow the leader, while management focuses on systems and maintenance processes. As a former president of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca commented jokingly "Sometimes, even the best manager looks like the boy walking with a big dog  waits to see where the animal wants to go to carry it over there".

The best way to test whether a person is a leader instead of manager is asking them to make some positive changes. The administrator can keep the course, but can never change it. To turn the tide of people, influence is needed and that is only possible by leading.

SECOND MYTH: The myth of the entrepreneur. Very often people assume that all salespeople and entrepreneurs are leaders, not always this fact is truth.

It is true that the entrepreneur is entrepreneurial, innovative and very successful many times, especially if you see the billions dollars they produce for their sales of products or services, but this does not make him a leader. People may be buying what he sells, but don't follow him. In the best case, he can persuade people for a moment, but he has no influence on them on long term.

THIRD MYTH: The myth of knowledge. Sir Francis Bacon said: Knowledge is power. Many people believe that power is the essence of leadership, naturally assumes that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are leaders, but that does not happen instantaneously. You can visit any major university and meet scientists engaged in investigations and philosophers whose power of reasoning is so high that comes off the charts, but whose ability to lead is so low that is not even register on the charts, IQ does not necessarily equate to leadership.

FOURTH MYTH: The myth of precursor. Another misconception is that everyone who is in front of the crowd is a leader, but being first is not always the same as being the leader. For example, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to reach the top of the Everest. Since his historic ascent in 1953, many people have followed in the realization of this feat, but that does not make Hillary a leader.

He was not even the leader of that particular expedition. The leader was John Hunt. And when Hillary traveled to the South Pole in 1958 as part of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition of the community of nations, was in company of another leader, Sir Vivian Fuchs, a person must not only go to the front, but must also have people intentionally coming Behind her, follows her addresseed, and acts on the basis of their vision.

FIFTH MYTH: And finally, the myth of the position. This is my favorite myth. As already mentioned, the worst of all the misconceptions about leadership is that which is based on the position. Look what happened several years ago at Cordiant, the publicy agency formerly known as Saatchi and Saatchi. In 1994, institutional investors in this company forced the directors to dismiss Maurice Saatchi, the principal chief of the company. What was the result? Several executives followed him. Also he was followed by some of the largest accounts of the company, including British Airways and Mars, the candy maker. Saatchi's influence was so great that his departure caused that the shares of the company immediately came down from $ 8.5 to $ 4 per share. What happened was a result of the law of influence. Saatchi lost his title and position, but remained as the leader. Stanly Huffty claimed: is the leader who makes the position. 

After reading this, i hope you have a clear idea what leadership is and represents. People who are looking to increase their leader abilities should start reading about it. 

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