Everyone I meet in the corporate world wants to become a leader, irrespective of what their psychological disposition is. disproportionately high CEO salaries don’t help. Everyone wants to earn more and the fastest way to earn more is to get into the management cadre in an MNC. What people don’t realise is that becoming a leader or in the management cadre is not for everyone. Like any other job, it requires a very clearly defined skillset and mindset.
Here is a list of things that you need to know before you aspire to become a leader in your organisation
1) Being a leader means you are going to be lonely and in a position where you won’t have too many people to go to for advice or help.
2) Being a leader means that you will no longer have time to practice your craft, which means that you might have to forget a lot of your work practices and learn to give up control on a lot of different levels.
3) Being a leader means that your focus is now on getting things done rather than doing sh*t yourself.
4) Being a leader means that you will not get as much feedback as you used to. It is now your responsibility to seek out feedback for yourself from all levels.
5) Being a leader means that you need to give a lot of feedback (which is not so easy to do, as you will find out).
6) Being a leader means that you get to make all the tough decisions. The decisions that will not only affect you but everyone whom you lead and their family. And you will be doing while you are constantly being in the spotlight and being judged.
7) Being a leader is emotional. As you are in the spotlight all the time, you need to be on your best self all the time. You don’t have the option or the privilege to lose your cool or not be your best self at all the time. This takes a toll on your emotional well-being.
8) Being a leader means that you need to learn how to put people under the spotlight and yet make them feel comfortable.
9) Being a leader means that you need to judge people and look for potential (or the absence of it) in people around you.
10) Being a leader You become the Shit umbrella. You need to deal with shit so your team doesn’t have to. You need to learn to be comfortable with that.
If you think you have a personality that can handle all of these changes (they will become reality the day you take on the role).
Game on…. Are you ready?
