I have long wanted to write about the vast amount of nonsense that is being written about leadership. Leadership is a very current topic. I dare to say that there is more talk than ever about leadership. A common concept in gatherings and information on politics, business, sports, and others, and as with many concepts, most people do not have the minimum knowledge to give an opinion on the subject. In addition, most books published on leadership (and many are published, you just must go to your usual bookstore to check) lack scientific rigor. They are what I call opinions, that is, the dissemination of ideas about leadership based on personal, subjective opinions and without any scientific validity.
With this post, I wanted to highlight A PAIR OF AUTHENTIC STUPIDITIES ABOUT LEADERSHIP from a scientific point of view.
- LEADERS MUST HAVE CERTAIN PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. That is, they must have special gifts, talents, and specific characteristics. And it is not like that. It has been scientifically proven that there is no individual requirement that prevents or guarantees you to develop good leadership. In fact, there is evidence that very intelligent people and very unintelligent people have developed good leadership. The same thing happens with education (very erudite people and people who don’t even know how to read and write have been good leaders). Physically strong or physically weak people have also been great leaders. Therefore, when you read that leaders must be strong, smart, or anything else, it is false. The science of leadership has shown these comments to be downright stupid. Leadership is open to all. Now, this idea does not mean that we all have the same potential to be leaders. Science has shown that we all have different potentials to develop good leadership. As in all facets of life, people are different, and concerning leadership, some are more talented than others, which makes it easier for them to develop good leadership.
- LEADERS MUST BEHAVE IN A CERTAIN WAY. Another common stupidity when we talk about leadership. It is very common to hear phrases like “leaders must communicate very well”, “leaders must have a great strategic vision” etc. I could give you many examples in this regard. All stupid. There is scientific evidence that shows that people with high communication skills have been great leaders, but also people who communicate very poorly. The same goes for strategic vision or any other feature you can think of. Science has shown that leaders are not only very different from each other but also behave very differently. Science has shown that just about the only thing leaders have in common is that they know themselves well, what their strengths are, and how to achieve performance by focusing on their strengths.
Therefore, you must be very clear that leaders are very different from each other and also that they behave very differently from each other. If you want to improve your leadership, bet on truthful and scientifically validated information. Because as George Bernard Shaw, a well-known Irish playwright, said, “Beware false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
