Why do we want to be leaders?
As far as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a leader but why. What is it about the idea of leading that many of us are drawn towards? Since starting my new job at a telecommunication start-up, my boss has made me question why I want to be a leader. Throughout primary school, high school, and university I have always been a leader of some sort. Whether it was for the student body, sports teams, or outside academia, I have always put my hand up to take on these leadership positions. Barak Obama, Nelson Mandela, and Jacinda Ardern are a few examples of incredible leadership but do you think they were born with it? Some may say yes and others might think they were self-made.
In 2013, women accounted for 8% of all national leaders and 2% of all presidential posts and to some extent, this is one of the reasons why I want to lead. To bridge the gender gap. A recent study by Diversity Work New Zealand shows that 62.2% of board members are male and 37.3% female. Another reason why I want to become a leader is the people. Being a part of someone’s journey and seeing their progress, there is no greater feeling.
After a bit of research, I have found the 4 main reasons why a lot of people want to be leaders in no particular order.
- Money
From the USA today show, CEO’s could well enough earn as high as 486 times more than their employees. For a company with 4 organization levels, let’s say department, division, vice president, and president. The president would receive 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16 times more than employees reporting to the department manager. When we look at it like this it does become significantly more drastic in terms of how much leaders can earn. Personally, I like to think of it as a bi-product of leadership and never the main reason to lead.
2. Power
Being in control of how a company is directed comes with many risks and challenges. You are responsible for not only people’s livelihood, their future, and their goals but also the success and failure of a company. The dangerous thing with power is that it can be easily misused and taken advantage of and I’m sure we have all being witness to this once before. Whether at work, school, in government, we all know how power plays an important role.
3. Prestige
People like titles. That’s pretty much it.
4. People
Simon Sinek, a motivational speaker and the author of Leaders eat last talks about what good leadership looks like. He re-iterates that “Great leaders create leaders” and I really resonate with that. The people are what makes or breaks a company. It is their dreams, hopes, and determination that lay the foundation of a great team.
Putting these 4 points aside, I decided to ask a few experienced and skilled leaders I know about what it means to lead and some of the challenges that go with it. Here is what they said.
Hadleigh Bognuda, CEO of ezyVet
ezyVet is a veterinary practice management software company based here in Auckland. A great local success story and a game-changer in the veterinary industry delivering a solution unlike any other. Talking with Hadleigh, he tells me that a great leader is someone who balances the empathy for their direct report with driving them to set, plan, and achieve their goals. He also goes on to say that finding a good balance between the ability to separate the day-to-day from the long-term strategic goals is difficult. Hadleigh leads a team of over 100 people to continuously optimize veterinary workflows and help veterinary clinics get the most value out of the application.
Rory Hancock, Co-Founder of Vidapp
I was also fortunate to be able to interview Rory Hancock, Co-Founder of Vidapp. Vidapp provides a seamless solution that lets you publish your online courses and subscription sites as your own native application.
Talking to Rory, he told me that one of the hardest things about being a leader is the blurred line between professional difficult conversations and supporting people at the workplace. Rory goes on to say that being empathetic and humanistic in a high-pressure and high-stress environment is incredibly important in being part of people’s growth and creating an environment where they can grow. As a leader, you must be there for your team regardless of how busy you are to lift them and forgo credit, paying it back to the team where it is deserved.
We have found a few reasons why people want to become leaders and have also talked to a few successful leaders but what does it mean to you? Are your reasons covered in this article? Leave a comment below and let me know your <why/>.
