Leadership is, maybe, horseshit

Praise,

Leadership is not horseshit. Let's get that out of the way.

I started off this thought 4 weeks ago with the hypothesis that leadership is all about power. The prevailing general thought is that to be a leader is to be empathetic, visionary, strong, accountable, humble, etc. It's not particularly helpful when you think of history's arguably most influential leader telling his disciples to serve if they wanted to lead.

It didn't make sense to me. Unfortunately, I'm too careful to think that a >2000-year-old text (and the Lord of the universe) doesn't know what he's saying. But I also know I wasn't wrong in thinking servitude isn't what makes you a leader.

So here's what I found. Being a leader and becoming a good leader are completely different concepts. The misconception in many texts and speeches is that they're considered synonymous (and automatic). It's expected that being a leader means you have to be good at it, and when you are not good, you are not fit to be a leader.

Meh! Completely wrong.

All leaders have one thing in common — power. Power, whether actual or perceived, is what defines a leader. Leaders are leaders because of what they have, not what they do. What they do defines the type of leader, what they are/have defines if they are even leaders.

And do not get it twisted, I mean power in the very sense of the word, "power." Power doesn't mean anything else. In Cersei's voice, "power, Praise, is power." But even Cersei doesn't describe power as succinctly as Varys did. He said, "Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick — a shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow."

The misconception of being a leader and becoming a good leader is probably another reason why people have their nuts twisted at the idea of Robert Greene's "48 Laws of Power." Being a leader is intrinsic; to become means to learn, to grow into, and to be made.

No one learns to become a leader. You are either one or not. You either have power or you don't. You can get power by growing your leverage. The most powerful people in the world either have financial leverage (Elon Musk, Zuck, Dangote, etc.), spiritual leverage (Jesus, the Pope, Muhammed (PBUH), etc.), or institutional leverage (CEOs, the King of England, presidents, etc.)

They are all leaders, but not necessarily good ones. My general rule of thumb is that all leaders deserve respect — they don't have to be good leaders to be respected. Achieving power enough to become a leader is deserving of respect, everything else is icing on the cake. Every founder, for example, is deserving of some level of respect. Every CEO, team lead, project lead, community lead, etc. — anyone leading XYZ has some leverage and power that makes them a leader.

Remember, power resides where men believe it resides.

Just like anything, perception (if not real) won't last forever. So from the first day of being accepted, the average leader does everything to continue increasing their leverage. Those who do not end up being rejected (killed, ousted, overthrown, sacked, demoted, etc.)

So you get accepted as the leader that you are, the job just began. Now, you have to increase profits, win a war, murder your opponents, do a hostile takeover, start an event, define the culture, cut costs, save the company, invest in R&D, win wars, marry wives, have children to carry on your bloodline, mentor people, have a vision, communicate the vision, create value, etc.

You don't do these things to be a leader, you do them to stay accepted as a leader. Why? Because being accepted as a leader by a group of people means you're in some sort of game, and the rules are simple — don't get rejected. The greatest leaders of all time are not necessarily good leaders by all counts of what good is. Great leaders have longevity and a shit ton of leverage.

Good leaders ensure that their leverage is as beneficial to their followers as it is to them. Bad leaders don't care. You don't need to be good to be great. There are great, bad leaders too. But it's impossible to be good and not be great.

The 48 Laws of Power is filled with autobiographies of how people gained, retained, and/or lost power. It is not a book of 48 laws that you must follow to gain power. It is a book of lessons. It is no different from the story of the tortoise and the hare, and the moral lessons that you gain from it.

You should check it out, if you haven't. But if you don't want to, check out Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People or read Ayn Rand's Fountainhead.

If you have the time, also read the Bible's book of Judges, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles.

If you don't read, watch Game of Thrones, Madam Secretary, or House of Cards. But specifically, if you've just being recently accepted as a leader and you want to find out what that looks like, watch Designated Survivor.

Here's the gag: You can never be too prepared to lead. The best way to learn leadership is by doing, course correcting and iterating. It is the best lesson I have learned from Designated Survivor.

So back to the >2000-year-old text, he is right.

A servant who serves means nothing to the recipient compared to the leader who serves. It is the power (and leverage) that a leader has that makes service a thing of honour. In fact, service is interestingly one of the few ways leaders build leverage.

I don't know how to end this, so … till the next letter.

Cheers,

Praise.