The top four myths about great leaders

Myths are funny things. We can believe things about ourselves or others which are just not true. Not only can we believe them but we can keep on holding them year after year. There are myths about all sorts of things including what great leaders and great leadership looks like. Here is my list of the top four myths about great leaders. I do not pretend this is the best list or the most comprehensive one. If you've got your own list that's great, it shows you are at least thinking about leadership and what it means. So hold onto your hats as we go into the land of make believe - a land that can seem so real that we believe it is. I'll leave the most fatal and deadly myth of all until the very end.

Myth Number One: Great leaders always get it right.

That's not true. Good and great leaders get it wrong and fail at things. Great leadership is not the absence of failure. It is the presence of effort, commitment and overcoming difficulties. Abraham Lincoln, one of the most celebrated American presidents lost his job, failed in business, had a breakdown, was defeated for nomination to congress, defeated at least twice for the US Senate and was defeated for nomination as Vice President. Alongside these failures were great successes too and eventually the Presidency. If we think great leadership is about never getting it wrong I think we are describing perfection rather than leadership.

Myth Number Two: Great Leaders always get results. They inspire everyone and win everybody over.

Again not true. Great Leaders often get into trouble because of their honesty and integrity. Their leadership challenges the existing set ups and people don't like that. If you think of Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, we see some interesting commonalities. They were all great leaders - men of inspiration, vision and care. All three changed the world. All three were also killed by those who opposed them. In Buddhism, there are the tales of the cousin of the Buddha who tried to split the community, turn people against Buddha and tried to have him killed three times. Leadership that shapes and changes things for the better will always have those who oppose it. Great leadership does not escape opposition. It works and goes ahead despite it.  

Myth Number Three: Great Leaders always have the answers. They are the ones in the know.

Don't think so. If great leaders had all the answers they would have stopped growing and learning and that never happens. It would be quite frightening if a leader had all the answers. It would mean they were cut off from the riches and depths of other people. The opposite is actually true here. Great leaders know they don't have all the answers. That's why they are always open and listening to what others say and do. Great leaders are perpetual learners and in that learning their great leadership lies. 

Myth Number Four: You will never be a great leader

This is the real 'serpent in the Garden of Eden' falsehood. It often births the others and is fed by them. Whatever you do, don't believe it. Leadership is when a person sees, owns and releases their own gifts. As we all have gifts we can all be great leaders. It isn't the lack of qualities and gifts - it's that we don't realize them and know how to let them manifest. I can honestly say I have worked with hundreds of homeless people over the years (people with the poorest backgrounds and worst odds against them usually from early years) and have never met one who did not have great gifts when you really got to know them. Great leadership is the point where the gifts come to the surface and start functioning. It's the shining of what is within.

We may not be like Napoleon who when he escaped from Elba in 1815 was met by an army regiment sent to stop him. He spoke to them, inspired them and won them all over. Napoleon then marched on Paris with this army whereupon the King fled. We may not be the unique special witness to justice and equality that Nelson Mandela was. However, if we can activate our gifts and make our contribution to making the world a better and brighter place and we can do this day in day out then something amazing will happen. We won't be great leaders - we will be the best.  

John Walsh, York Street Practice