5 Reasons why Leadership is more than just giving orders

Estimated read time 3 min read

Leadership is more than just giving orders or telling people what to do. There is more to being a leader and sometimes leaders miss it and think that they are only there to give orders. People in leadership then get surprised when the people they lead start to sabotage them or they start acting like they are not thinking for themselves.  Being a leader requires more than telling, it requires being human. I have noted in this article 5 reason why leadership is more than just giving orders.

People have feelings

More than anything, a leader needs to remember that people have feelings. People get angry, happy and sad among many other feelings. This is not to say that a leader should go the extra mile to be sensitive but a leader must understand the impact of their actions on the feelings of those that are being led.

People also think

When leading people it is very important to remember that people have ideas and sometimes those ideas are very helpful for a cause. A story is told of a manager who instructed his people to put petrol in his car. The employees tried to interject with a correction but the manager simply barked at the employees to the effect that he was the boss and that he had no time for insubordination. The employees came back on foot and the boss asked angrily where the car was to which the employee replied that the car was no longer moving as they had filled it with petrol as he had asked when the car actually takes diesel.

Also read 5 Leadership lessons from the life of Mandela

People are also leaders

Every person is a leader in one respect or another. You can be a leader in your family, with your friends, with your kids, with your workmates and in many different things. A leader leading people needs to remember that everyone around is a leader and that they must be respected as such. Treating a maid as if the maid knows nothing is wrong because the maid is an expert in specific areas and leads you in those areas which is why you hired the person. People are leaders in different respects, lead them with that knowledge as well.

A leader is also a person and not God

A person who believes that leading is giving orders has a god mentality and will fall. Giving orders all the time and never taking time to consult is a recipe for disaster because people will start to think that you know everything and the little important things which are critical for future decision making will not be told to the leader. In the end an organization can fall simply because the people being led thought the leader obviously knew everything.

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A leader is also a follower

When one is appointed a leader it does not mean that they are an expert in all things, it just means that they have a mandate or capability to bring resources together and these resources also includes expert advice. A leader is also a follower of the people that they are leading. In government the President appoints a Secretary of State who must lead in foreign issues as mandated by the President, in an organization the CEO has a CFO who leads in finance and the CEO must follow these skills and know how. If however the leader tries to lead in all things the result is failed expertise advice. Servant leadership is also a critical leadership style to learn.

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